Security breach in LS, two persons enter House, open gas canisters

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, two persons on Wednesday, 13 December jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery and opened canisters that emitted a yellow-coloured smoke, triggering panic among the MPs.

The House was adjourned soon after the incident.

The two intruders jumped from public gallery number four at around 1 pm when the Zero hour was in progress. They also shouted slogans like 'tanashahi nahi chalegi' (dictatorship will not be allowed). Further, outside the Parliament, two persons, including a woman, were detained for protesting using cans that released colour smoke, police said.

Narrating the LS incident, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "One person was seen leaping over the benches of the Lok Sabha while another was seen dangling from the public gallery spraying some tear gas when Zero Hour was in progress." They were overpowered by the Lok Sabha members and the watch and ward staff.

BJP member Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

"This is certainly a security breach because today we observed the death anniversary of people who sacrificed their lives in the 2001 (Parliament attack)," Chowdhury 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."

The two persons, detained for the protest outside the Parliament are identified as---Neelam (42) and Amol Shinde (25), police officials said, adding that further probe is underway.

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.