Security breach in Lok Sabha, two men jump into House from visitor’s gallery

NEW DELHI: In a security breach in Lok Sabha, two men jumped into the House from the visitor’s gallery and had canisters in their hand, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said. He said the canisters were emitting yellow smoke.

Visuals showed an unidentified man jumping from the visitor’s gallery of Lok Sabha after which there was a slight commotion. The House was adjourned till 2 pm. The incident happened when members were raising matters of urgent public importance and BJP MP Khagen Murmu was raising his issue.

BJP Rajendra Agrawal was in the Chair when the incident occurred. “Suddenly two young men around 20 years old jumped into the House from the visitor’s gallery and had canisters in their hand. These canisters were emitting yellow smoke. One of them was attempting to run towards the Speaker’s chair. They were shouting some slogans. The smoke could have been poisonous. This is a serious breach of security especially on 13th December, the day when Parliament was attacked in 2001”, Karti Chidambaram said.

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav alleged a “complete security lapse”. “All those who come here — be it visitors or reporters — they don’t carry tags. So, I think the government should pay attention to this. I think this is complete security lapse. Anything could have happened inside the Lok Sabha”, she said.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the intruders were apprehended. “Two young men jumped from the gallery and something was hurled by them from which gas was emitting. They were caught by MPs, and they were brought out by security personnel. The House was adjourned till 2 pm. This is certainly a security breach because today we observed the death anniversary of people who sacrificed their lives in 2001 (Parliament attack)”, Chowdhury said. (ANI)