A masked man was arrested after breaking into the Delhi Assembly and keeping a bouquet inside.

A car driven by a masked man forced through one of the boundary gates of the Delhi Assembly premises on Monday afternoon and then managed to flee in a stunning breach of security in the national capital.

However, after a few hours of intense search operation, the masked man has been arrested and the car has been seized. The man has been identified as Sarabjit Singh and the car was recovered from Roop Nagar, a densely populated residential neighbourhood in North Delhi.

The incident comes close on the heels of bomb threats received by the Assembly during the recently concluded budget session.

Around 2:00 pm, the vehicle with a UP registration number broke through Gate No. 2 to access the Assembly grounds before making its getaway. The gate at the VIP entry, where CRPF officers were stationed for security, was breached by the Tata Sierra with the license plate UP-26 AZ 8090. After breaking over the barrier, the driver unexpectedly stopped the car, calmly got out, put a bouquet close to the gate, and drove off.

“The driver proceeded towards the office of Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta and placed a flower bouquet near the porch before retreating,” a Delhi Secretariat official said.

The man had a suitcase and a bouquet, and there were marigold garlands around his neck. According to accounts, he got inside the Speaker’s vehicle, placed the bouquet inside, and then ran away.There is a bomb disposal unit on the scene.According to officials, nothing strange or explosive has been discovered inside the bouquet thus far.

The Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of West Bengal were heavily criticized by the Supreme Court on Monday for their actions and accessibility during the Malda incident, in which judicial officers involved in the ongoing SIR adjudication process were allegedly gheraoed for nine hours, necessitating the Chief Justice of India’s late-night intervention.

“What’s the problem, Mr Chief Secretary? You don’t even take the call of the Chief Justice?” the Chief Justice of India (CJI) asked, expressing strong displeasure over the response of the state’s top bureaucracy.

Appearing via video conference, the Chief Secretary said he was in Delhi for a meeting and had not received any calls from Kolkata. But the bench was unconvinced. Justice Bagchi observed, “The calls would have come in the evening. It would have been extremely helpful to the Chief Justice and the High Court administration if you had shared your mobile numbers.”

When the Chief Secretary maintained that his number was available, Justice Bagchi responded sharply: “You cannot be so high that the Chief Justice has no access to you. Please lower yourselves so that even the Chief Justice can connect to you.”

The CJI went further, directing both the Chief Secretary and the DGP to issue a written apology to the Chief Justice of the High Court. “You must apologise it is the sheer failure of your civilian administration and the police authorities that we had to give powers to the judicial officers,” the court said.

Even though seven judicial officers were kept captive during the incident, the bench observed that after “hours of efforts” to get in touch with the Chief Secretary, there was no answer. “This is how bureaucracy operates! The CJI said, “There is chaos in this state.”

The CJI emphasized the seriousness of the matter by stating that although the incident started at 3:30 pm, he wasn’t notified until 11:30 pm.

 “Till then, what all could have happened? Thousands of people were allowed to assemble and keep assembling,” he said.

Justice Bagchi added that it took the intervention of the Chief Justice of India to prevent a more serious outcome.

The court also pulled up the police response on the ground. Referring to submissions that the district magistrate and superintendent of police were present, Justice Bagchi said, “They were just watching when the registry contacted the SP, he said what can I do, there are women present — if we act, we will be killing women.”

While refraining from immediate punitive action, the court said it would await a report from the Chief Justice. “Subject to the report we don’t propose any action against these officers,” the CJI said, adding that both officials must reflect on their responsibilities.

Until the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) procedure and tribunal work are finished, the Supreme Court ordered the Chief Secretary, DGP, and the entire state government to fully cooperate with the Chief Justice.

Shahjahan Qadri and Maftul Islam were detained for allegedly inciting threats against court authorities, according to a comprehensive affidavit previously filed by the West Bengal government. They are being held by the police and will be sent over to the NIA for questioning, the court was told.

The bench noted that the gathering was “not spontaneous” but “deep-rooted and certainly instigated,” and it instructed investigating authorities to find the people who started the gherao. The court stated, “We want to take this to a logical conclusion, so find out who is responsible.”