“Both men have been nabbed, thorough investigation being done”: Speaker Birla on security breach in Lok Sabha

New Delhi [India]: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said that two men who jumped into House from the visitors gallery have been nabbed and necessary instructions have been given to Delhi Police in the matter.

The Speaker told members after the House reconvened at 2 pm that a thorough investigation of the incident is being done.

He said there is no need to worry about the smoke in the House during the incident.

“A thorough investigation of the incident that took place during zero hour, is being done. Essential instructions have also been given to Delhi Police. In the primary investigation, it has been found that that there is no need to worry about the smoke,” he said.

“Both of them have been nabbed and the materials with them have also been seized. The two people outside the Parliament have also been arrested by Police,” he added.

In a security breach in Lok Sabha, two men jumped into the House from the visitor’s gallery and had canisters in their hand, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said earlier.

Seeking to raise the issue in the House, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the incident took place on the day MPs paid floral tribute to “our brave hearts who sacrificed their lives during the Parliament attack”.

“Today itself there was an attack here inside the House. Does it prove that we failed to maintain a high level of security?…All the MPs fearlessly nabbed the two people but I want to know where were the security officials when all of this happened,” he asked.

As members sought to raise their concerns, the Speaker said he will meet parties after the proceedings of the day to seek their suggestions.

The anti-terror unit special cell of the Delhi Police has reached Parliament House to question the people who caused the security breach at the Lok Sabha.

Visuals showed an unidentified man jumping from the visitor’s gallery of Lok Sabha, after which there was a slight commotion. The House was adjourned till 2 pm.

The incident happened when members were raising matters of urgent public importance and BJP MP Khagen Murmu was raising his issue.

BJP Rajendra Agrawal was in the chair when the incident occurred.

“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 13th December, the day when Parliament was attacked in 2001,” Karti Chidambaram said.

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav alleged a “complete security lapse”.

“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,” she said.