Two men jump from Lok Sabha visitors’ gallery, smoke from canisters, 4 detained
NEW DELHI, DEC 13: Lok Sabha was engulfed in chaos on Wednesday afternoon after two men jumped into the House chamber. According to initial information, the two were carrying gas canisters. Describing the moment of the security breach, one Member of Parliament said that the two men came out of nowhere and there was yellow smoke in the air.
Both men have been detained and are being held at a police station. They have been identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan from Mysore.
Two protesters, a man and a woman, have also been detained outside the Parliament, while protesting carrying cans that emitted yellowish smoke. They have been identified as Neelam (42) and Amol Shinde (25).
The Wednesday security breach in Lok Sabha incidentally happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack during which armed terrorists stormed the Parliament building.
According to sources, six people were involved in the conspiracy. Two individuals caused chaos inside the premises, while two others created disturbances outside. Two suspects are currently on the run, with authorities intensifying their search.
Sources indicate that all five individuals who arrived from outside Delhi had stayed together in Gurugram at the residence of a person identified as Lalit Jha. While the identities of the other five have been confirmed, the sixth person remains unidentified. According to agency insiders, the entire operation was meticulously planned.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned briefly after the security breach and the MPs were rushed out.
the moment here:
Speaking to the media outside Parliament, the MPs described the scenes of chaos and panic inside the Lok Sabha. According to the members, this is what happened inside Lok Sabha on Wednesday afternoon:
BJP MP Khargen Murmu was speaking when one individual jumped from the visitors’ gallery
He first hung from the barrier and then jumped all the way down into the House
Another man followed him and jumped from the gallery
They both then started jumping from bench to bench before being overpowered by some MPs
At that moment, they seemed to pull out something of their shoe and a colourful gas emanated from it
This led to pandemonium and MPs started running out
Meanwhile, Parliament security moved in and detained the two individuals who’ve been taken to nearby Parliament Street police station
The said individuals seem to have entered using visitors’ passes signed off by some MP’s office, which will now be a matter of investigation
The MPs said that those who entered the house sprayed “some gas” that cause eye irritation and other difficulties.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said one person was dangling from the public gallery of Lok Sabha and sprayed “some kind of gas” which caused eye irritation.
Trinamool Congress leader Kakoli Dastidar also said “they started shouting slogans, and spraying some gas”.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said “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”.
When the House resumed proceedings, Speaker Om Birla assured a probe into the incident and said the smoke was “ordinary kind”.
“A thorough investigation of the incident that took place during zero hour, is being done. Essential instructions have also been given to Delhi Police. In the primary investigation, it has been found that it was just a smoke and there is no need to worry about the smoke,” Speaker said.
A similar incident happened on November 25, 2016, when a man attempted to jump from the Lok Sabha visitors’ gallery into the House, allegedly in protest of the government’s demonetisation move, banning of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
On 13 December 2001, terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed outfits attacked the Parliament complex, killing nine people.
-PTI
