A man jumped into the lawmakers’ area of the lower house of India’s parliament on Wednesday, TV channels showed, in a major security breach on the 22nd anniversary of a deadly attack on the complex. CNN News 18 showed a man wearing a black jacket jump from the visitors’ area into the lawmakers’ seating area, climbing over tables of lawmakers.
Two suspects were taken into custody following the security breach, the channel said citing police. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in parliament at the time.
“On this day, India’s parliament has been attacked again,” lawmaker Karti Chidambaram told reporters outside parliament. Gaurav Gogoi, another lawmaker, said one of the two suspects was shouting slogans. According to other lawmakers, there was a sound and then smoke in the chambers.
VIDEO | "Two people jumped from the public gallery and there was smoke. There was chaos all around. Both of them were overpowered by security officials," says MP Danish Ali on reported security breach in Lok Sabha. #Parliament pic.twitter.com/fJIFOnkgdb
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 13, 2023
More than a dozen people, including five gunmen were killed in an attack on India’s parliament complex in 2001, which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based militants.
