Parliament attack 2001: All you need to know

Team Udayavani, Dec 13, 2020, 11:23 AM IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives during the terror attack and said that the country will never forget the cowardly attack on our Parliament in 2001

It has been 19 years since the deadly attack on Parliament by terrorist groups linked to Pakistan.

On 13  December, 2001, five heavily-armed terrorists, allegedly belonging to terror groupsLashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, stormed the Parliament complex in New Delhi and opened fire indiscriminately. The attack led to the death of 12 people, including one civilian.

The terror strike took place around 40 minutes after Parliament was adjourned and about 100 members were present in the building.

While then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi had left, many MPs including Home Minister LK Advani and Minister of State for Defence Harin Pathak were still inside.

Five policemen, a Parliament security guard, and a gardener were killed, and 22 others were injured. All MPs and ministers escaped unhurt.

The names of the five terrorists who were killed in the incident are Hamza, Haider alias Tufail, Rana, Ranvijay and Mohammed.

Investigations revealed possible involvement of four accused namely Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain, SAR Geelani and Navjot Sandhu.

Mohammad Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain Guru (cousin of Afzal Guru), and S A R Gilani received a death sentence for their crimes. Afzal Guru was hanged on February 9, 2013 in Tihar Jail.