Bhubaneswar: In a major security breach on the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament attack, two intruders jumped into the Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery and started running around the House with canisters that emitted a yellow-coloured smoke.
They were also chanting slogans such as ‘tana shahi nahi chalegi’ (dictatorship won’t be accepted). The House was adjourned soon after till 2 pm and the MPs were rushed out.
The duo has been detained and one among them identified as Sagar, India Today reported.
BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal, who was presiding over the Chair of Speaker when the incident took place, said, “There is a loophole for sure. When the first person came down, we thought he might have fallen but when the second person started coming down, all of us became cautious. The person tried to open his shoes and took something out after which smoke came out. Action will be taken against this. The Speaker and responsible people will make the decision on this. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also reached the House when all of this happened…”
Congress MP 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.
“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…” Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav told news agency ANI.
“It was a terrible experience. Nobody could guess what was their target and why were they doing this. We all left the House immediately, but it was a security lapse. How could they enter with instruments releasing smoke?…” questioned Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said, “…Nobody got injured. When they jumped down, the benches at the back were unoccupied so they were caught…Two ministers were in the House.”
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 December 13, the day when Parliament was attacked in 2001”
Security also detained a man and a woman who were protesting outside Parliament premises using colour smoke canisters, the media reports added.
