In a major security breach coming on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, two men entered Lok Sabha Wednesday and opened canisters that emitted a yellow-coloured smoke.
Footage from the House’s CCTV system showed one man, wearing a dark blue shirt, leaping across desks to evade capture, while the second was in the visitors’ gallery spraying smoke. Both men were overpowered by MPs and security staff.
Lok Sabha resumed at 2 pm, with Speaker Om Birla making a brief statement.
The intruders apparently raised slogans inside the Lok Sabha — ‘Tanashahi nahi chalegi’.
Nobody was injured in the security breach.
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the two persons were carrying tear gas canisters. He described it as a “serious breach of security” on the 21st anniversary of the Parliament attack.
BSP MP Danish Ali demanded to know how the duo managed to enter the premises and who recommended the pass for them. Some Lok Sabha MPs suspect they may have got access on the recommendation of Pratap Simha, BJP MP from Mysore.
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.”
Meanwhile, two other individuals – a man and a woman – were detained outside Parliament, also with coloured smoke canisters that exploded and spewed red and yellow smoke..
Delhi Police sources have told NDTV the two incidents are likely related. According to news agency PTI, the man and woman have been identified as Amol Shinde, 25, and Neelam, 42.
Visuals of this incident showed the two shouting – “dictatorship will not be tolerated”.
