Massive security breach at Indian parliament on 22nd terror attack anniversary

IN a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament, two persons on Wednesday (13) jumped into the Lok Sabha or the lower chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour and released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by members of the House.

Around the same time, two persons, including a woman, also sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans 'tanashahi nahi chalegi' (say no to dictatorship) outside the parliament premises.

Read: Indian opposition Congress demands statement from home minister Amit Shah over security breach

All four have been detained by security forces.

Two persons, involved in the Lok Sabha incident, have been identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan. Sharma had come to the visitor's gallery as a guest of Prathap Simha, a member of the Lok Sabha representing Mysuru in the southern state of Karnataka.

The two jumped into the chamber from the public gallery at around 1 pm local time. And while one was spotted jumping over the benches, the other was left dangling from the gallery before jumping into the chamber, according to several MPs present in the house then.

BJP member Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm as one part of the Lok Sabha chamber was filled with yellow-coloured smoke.

"Two intruders have been arrested from inside parliament, two from outside. All their belongings have been seized...The entire matter is being investigated thoroughly," Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said when the House re-convened at 2 pm.

With some members raising the issue of the recent threat to attack the parliament, Birla said "What you are referring to, it is not that matter as per preliminary report."

While the affiliation of the protestors was not known immediately, US-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had recently released a video threatening to attack the parliament on or before December 13.

Birla also called a meeting of MPs from all parties later in the day to address their concerns over the matter.

Members who overpowered the two persons inside the Lok Sabha chamber said,"one of them was saying I am a patriot and came here to protest."

Many Lok Sabha members beat up the intruders before handing them over to security.

Janata Dal (United) member Ramprit Mandal said the intruders had hidden the gas canisters in their shoes and sprayed yellow-coloured gas in the Lok Sabha chamber.

"One of the two was raising slogans 'Tanashahi nahi chalegi'," Mandal said.

"Suddenly there was a commotion in the House. One person was seen jumping from one bench to another. It was a very tense moment, anything could have happened. I thought, what if he has a bomb or fire equipment in his pocket? It is a serious security lapse," Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Trinamool Lok Sabha leader, said.

"Two people jumped from the public gallery, there was smoke and everyone ran. They have been caught by some MPs and security personnel. One of them is Sagar. He was the guest of Mysuru member Prathap Simha," Lok Sabha member Danish Ali said.

"It is a big security lapse. It is the anniversary of the parliament attack. This is a matter for probe," said Ali.

Indian National Congress member Karti Chidambaram said the two persons pulled out canisters that were emitting yellow smoke. "The smoke could have been poisonous. It is a serious security breach," he added.

"They started advancing and rushing towards the well of the house and they lit up smoke sticks. Security was compromised," Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member D N V Senthil Kumar said on X.

"Certainly, there is a loophole. At first, I thought a person might have fallen but when the second person started coming down, all of us became cautious," BJP member Rajendra Agrawal said.

"Home Minister Amit Shah gives big speeches but can't maintain security in parliament, he must resign," Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said.

In a post on X, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said, "Saw two young men unleash foul smelling yellow coloured gas from canisters inside Parliament gallery. MPs rushed to grab these men. One person was raising some slogans. This raises serious questions on another aspect of the new Parliament building- security."

Security has been beefed up in the area following the incident.

Terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed outfits attacked the parliament complex on this day in 2001, killing nine people.

The Bharatiya Janata Party was in power then as well and the prime minister was Atal Behari Vajpayee. Relations between India and Pakistan had sharply deteriorated following the incident.

(With PTI inputs)