CPM parliamentarian Elamaram Kareem on Friday wrote to the Rajya Sabha secretary-general demanding a probe and action against the security personnel who had allegedly manhandled him and some other MPs, a couple of them women, on Wednesday.

Wire agency ANI had on Thursday cited marshals as alleging that Kareem had grabbed one of them by the neck during the commotion on Wednesday as the Opposition sought to stop the passage of a bill that reduces the government’s stake in insurance companies.

The Opposition sees the “so-called internal security report” of the Rajya Sabha secretariat as an effort by the government to divert attention from the manner in which the insurance bill was “bulldozed” through Parliament.

Kareem has explained why the Opposition members were protesting in the Well of the House and accused the government of orchestrating what transpired.

“The proceedings of the House were disrupted as the government outrightly (sic) rejected this demand (to refer the bill to a select committee) and proceeded with passage of the bill,” Kareem said.

The MP said: “This led to the protest by Opposition members and sloganeering. It was never a violent struggle to physically harm any person present inside the chamber. The heavy deployment of marshals and security personnel during that time only to manhandle the Opposition MPs created the chaos.

“This advance deployment of marshals in huge number makes it clear that it was a well-planned action intended to harm the protesting MPs.”

Kareem alleged that the marshals had physically blocked the movement of Opposition members.

“When I tried to approach the Chairman’s chamber to personally convince him, one among them, whom I can identify by face, grabbed and pushed me away,” he said.

“I got a forceful hit on the chest. I am still suffering from physical (unease) and suffocation due to it.”

Kareem said that Wednesday’s events were unprecedented and that instead of trying to find a way out, the government used force.

“Many of us feel that those who were there in the chamber wearing security marshal uniforms were specially brought in from outside for manhandling the Opposition MPs,” he said.

“I am saying this because the security personnel present in the chamber at that time were not the officers who are seen inside the Rajya Sabha chamber or Parliament House usually.”

Kareem has sought access to camera footage of the day’s proceedings. He has accused the government of selectively leaking visuals from inside the House to make out a case against the Opposition amid demands from the BJP for an inquiry into Wednesday’s fracas.