'They jumped from the gallery': How the Lok Sabha breach took place as told by MPs

 MPs were shocked as two individuals entered the Lok Sabha chamber and opened smoke canisters. According to eyewitness accounts, one of the men leaped across desks trying to evade capture, while both were heard shouting ‘tana shahi nahi chalegi’

First Post & Agencies, December 13, 2023: Chaotic scenes erupted inside the Parliament on Wednesday (13 December) after two individuals entered the Lok Sabha and opened smoke canisters. The incident reportedly occurred during Zero Hour in th House at 1.02 pm.

The concerning event comes on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack when five terrorists had entered the Parliament House Complex. The gravity of the latest security breach was not lost as just earlier in the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other bigwig MPs from several political parties paid floral tributes to the security personnel who laid down their lives in the 2001 attack.

After the Lok Sabha resumed after a brief adjournment, Speaker Om Birla said the lower house and the Delhi Police are investigating the incident. He said that the initial probe revealed that the smoke from the canisters was “harmless” and “not a cause of worry”.

What have MPs revealed about the security breach in Lok Sabha? Let’s take a closer look.

The CCTV footage from the Lok Sabha showed that one man, donning a dark blue shirt, was jumping across desks in the House to evade capture, while the other was in the visitors’ gallery spraying smoke, according to NDTV.

They were eventually caught by the MPs and security staff.

Members present inside the House said that the two intruders were chanting slogans such as “tana shahi nahi chalegi” (dictatorship won’t be accepted). One of these men has been identified as Sagar Sharma, while the other person’s name is yet to be known, reported Indian Express.

Meanwhile, two more suspects, a 25-year-old man named Amol Shinde from Maharashtra’s Latur and a 42-year-old woman named Neelam from Jind in Haryana, were held close to Transport Bhavan, which is near the Parliament complex. They were also carrying coloured smoke canisters that sprayed red and yellow smoke, as per NDTV. 

Delhi Police sources told the news channel that the two incidents are likely related.

Speaker Birla told the Lok Sabha, “As per the preliminary investigation, both of them (suspects) have been held and all their belongings have been seized. The two suspects, who were outside, have also been arrested”.

MPs reveal what happend in Lok Sabha

Recalling the incident, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram told reporters that it appeared that one person had fallen from the visitors’ gallery. “Zero Hour was going on in the House, I was awaiting my turn to speak. Suddenly, it appeared that one person had fallen from the visitors’ gallery. Then we realised that it was a deliberate act of him jumping into the well. There was another person, both of them pulled out canisters that were emitting yellow smoke”.

He told NDTV that one of the intruders “started running towards the Speaker’s chair”. “He took out his shoe, he was overpowered by certain members, but he had a canister in his hand which he had opened. Another person jumped down and also opened a canister. Both the canisters emitted yellow smoke.”

The Congress MP expressed apprehension about the smoke from the canisters. “How could two people bring cannisters into the visitors gallery? The gas could have been poisonous, it could have been a toxic gas,” The Quint quoted him as saying.

“This is a serious breach of security especially on 13 December, the day when Parliament was attacked in 2001,” he added.

BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal, who was presiding over the House proceedings when the incident took place, said that he noticed one person falling from the visitors’ gallery, while the other was leaping on the desks. “One of them took something out of his shoes that was emitting smoke. The security personnel caught them, and it remains to seen who they are, what was their objective and what organisation are they associated with,” Indian Express quoted him as saying.\

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told ANI, “Two young men jumped from the gallery and something was hurled by them from which gas was emitting. They were caught by MPs, they were brought out by security personnel. House was adjourned till 2 pm. This is certainly a security breach because today we observed the death anniversary of people who sacrificed their lives in 2001 (Parliament attack)…”

Addressing the Lok Sabha later, Chowdhury hailed the MPs who overpowered the intruders inside the House and questioned the security arrangements in the Parliament. “How did an incident like this take place on the anniversary of the Parliament attack. Does this prove that enough precautions were not taken? I am happy to say that all our MPs showed courage and overpowered the two men,” he said.

Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, who reportedly caught hold of the two men intruders inside the House, said, “He had something in his hand which was emitting yellow-coloured smoke. I snatched it away and threw it outside…This is a major security breach”.

MP Danish Ali, who was recently suspended by his party Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), told NDTV a visitor’s pass was recovered after the scuffle, which was issued by BJP MP Pratap Simha’s office.

According to BSP MP Ram Shiromani Verma, security personnel found an Aadhaar card with a Lucknow address on one of the two intruders, reported Hindustan Times. 

‘Security lapse’

Describing the incident as a “terrible experience”, Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said: “Nobody could guess their target… why were they doing this? We left immediately but it was a security lapse!”

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav told reporters, “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…”

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded Union home minister Amit Shah’s statement on the incident in Parliament. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back, with Union minister Piyush Goyal accusing him of “politicising” the security breach.