There was a major security breach during Zero Hour in Parliament at 1.02 pm on Wednesday after two men, both carrying smoke canisters emitting an as yet unidentified yellow smoke, jumped from the visitors’ gallery and ran into the Lok Sabha chamber. Incredible 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.
Here’s what happened so far
- As the session was going on, two intruders were seen inside the Lok Sabha spraying some yellow gas
- It created commotion as the MPs rushed to catch the intruders. As of now, they are being interrogated.
- Lok Sabha MP Pratap Simha is believed to have signed one of their entry passes.
- The intruders apparently raised slogans inside the Lok Sabha — ‘Tanashahi nahi chalegi’.
- Security personnel found an Aadhaar card with a Lucknow address from one of the intruders.
- While this happened inside Lok Sabha, outside Parliament two protestors were detained by the local police. They were protesting with coloured smoke. It is not yet known whether they are connected to the intruders.
- MPs– scared by the suddenness of the massive breach– pointed out the fact that it happened on the anniversary of 2001’s Parliament attack.
- BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal who was presiding over the chair of Speaker when the breach took place said when the first person jumped, everyone thought he might have fallen. The security and the MPs were alerted when the second person jumped in.
- Defence minister Rajnath Singh reached the spot immediately, Rajendra Agarwal said.
- Nobody was injured in the security breach.
