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Parliament security breach: Eyewitnesses recall a thud and smoke
The men, one of whom had a smoke canister concealed in his shoe, raised slogans sending security personnel into a tizzy.
It was a thud that made heads turn in the Lok Sabha as two young men jumped from the visitors’ gallery on to the floor of the House where proceedings were underway on Wednesday. At first some of the lawmakers didn’t know what to make of the incursion, which halted the proceedings a little after 1pm.
A few hours earlier, lawmakers led by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankar lined up to pay homage to the security personnel who died on this very day in 2001 when terrorists, in a brazen attack, rained bullets on Parliament.
Surely, the timing of Wednesday’s attack was significant?
The men, one of whom had a smoke canister concealed in his shoe, raised slogans sending security personnel into a tizzy. Amid the commotion, BJP leader Rajendra Agrawal who was in the Chair made a quick announcement about the House being adjourned till 2 p.m. Some MPs by then had made a dash towards the door; others called out for security; but a couple of them seated close to the benches where the two intruders landed were quick on their feet and grabbed the two. Blows rained down on the two as they made unsuccessful attempts to get away.
The two, visibly hurt from the blows , were then dragged out of the chambers by the security personnel.
One of the intruders landed near the seat of Kalben Delkar, the Shiv Sena MP from Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Recounting the incident, Malook Nagar of the BSP said, “Our proceedings were going on when suddenly we heard a thud from the back and then I turned. It felt like someone had fallen from the Lok Sabha public gallery...or someone had been pushed.”
Nagar who along with Congress MP, Gurjeet Singh Aujla and RLP’s Hanuman Beniwal a few others tackled the two intruders said, “We were looking towards the gallery when suddenly another guy jumped down. The minute the second guy jumped, it became clear that something wrong was happening. He didn’t run towards the exit but started hopping over the seats.”
Read Here: Smoke, chaos inside Parliament on 2001 terror attack anniversary
Anticipating that the intruder wanted to head towards the Speaker’s chair, Nagar and Beniwal blocked him. “He took off his shoes, but we caught him. Four or five MPs came and started beating him up. We were trying to make sure that he didn’t take out any weapons that might be on him. Shortly after, security personnel came into the room,” Nagar added.
He went on to say a lady, probably a ward and watch staff member, fainted after one of the intruders landed on her. “We saw she was crying and was confused about the situation...”
Aujla, his right palm stained yellow from the gas in the canister said: “When we caught the first guy, he took something out like a canister and there was smoke everywhere. I don’t know what was in his hand, it was just spreading smoke everywhere.”
Retelling the story outside the House, Beniwal who represents Nagaur in Rajasthan said there were a bunch of union ministers including defence minister Rajnath Singh present in the House when the commotion erupted. The MPs did not hesitate for a moment, he said. “We thought they should know that they cannot get away.”
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“We stopped them and restrained them, and when the security personnel were picking one of them up, he removed his shoes, and he took out the canister.”
Outside, MPs expressed shock at the security breach. “Today is the 22nd anniversary of the attack. They picked today, of all the days to jump inside Parliament and showed us that we are not safe,” Beniwal said.
Ram Shiromani Verma of the BSP who was also present when the incident occurred said panic spread as soon as the gas was released. “This was a very big incident…they were too bold to pull something like in the Lok Sabha. We ask the government to investigate this .” His views were echoed by Danish Ali, an MP who was expelled from the BSP this week and Arvind Sawant of the Shiva Sena (UBT).
“Luckily no MP was injured this time, but we need answers about this breach,” Sawant said.
