Two unidentified individuals entered the MP Chambers in India’s Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday and threw smoke bombs in a significant security breach.
Both men decided to jump into the well where lawmakers were sitting during the session’s zero hours from the visitor’s gallery and decided to open smoke canisters, filling the entire parliament space with yellow smoke. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not present in the parliament at the time of the incident.
The security breach was one of the major ones in recent times and comes on the 22nd anniversary of the deadly 2021 terrorist attack, which took place in the Indian parliament and ended up killing 14 people, including security officers and five gunmen.
After the smoke scare, both houses were adjourned briefly moments later. The two suspects were taken into custody following the security breach. Another two people, named Anmol from Maharashtra and a woman named Neelam from Haryana, were taken outside of the parliament complex for conducting a protest and opening a smoke bomb inside the parliament.
An investigation has been launched into the incident, and instructions have been passed to Delhi Police, according to Om Birla, Speaker of Lok Sabha.
BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal, who was presiding over the session, commented, “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.”
He also added “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.”
The incident also comes just after months Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the newly built parliament building, a project that caused crores to move to a modern complex from the colonial-era building.
