The man burst into the Indian parliament, leaving smoke in the heavily guarded building

NEW DELHI, Dec 13 (Reuters) – A man stormed into a group of lawmakers in India’s parliament, shouting slogans and setting off a can of smoke on Wednesday, in a major breach of the protection in 22 years of a dangerous attack on the crisis.

Parliament TV showed a young man wearing a black jacket and black trousers jumping from the visitors’ room into the MPs’ seat downstairs while speaking a member, then climbed the tables and entered the corridors.

He was surrounded by security personnel and law enforcement officers and tied to a sidewalk as he placed a smoke can in his shoes, releasing thick, yellow smoke, officials said.

Four people, including the man, were arrested, authorities said.

“It all happened in half a minute or one minute,” Rajendra Agarwal, a lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party who presided over the house, told CNN News 18 TV channel. and added that he also saw a second person in the visitor’s gallery. try to break into the group of lawmakers.

“There is no doubt that this is a major security breach.”

Law enforcement officials said the perpetrator yelled words they could not identify and there was a sound and some smoke.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in parliament at that time.

THE LEGISLATORS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT

“I was hoping that maybe they would raise something, shoot something,” Sudip Bandyopadhyay, a Trinamool Congress lawmaker, told news agency ANI in which Reuters has a minority stake.

“This is a serious failure of security. How did they enter … given the smoke, sound,” he said.

The proceedings of the lower house were suspended after the accident but resumed business about an hour later.

Speaker Om Birla told the delegates that the investigation found that the smoke given by the man was “normal smoke, just to show emotion”. Two people were arrested from inside the house and two from outside the house, he said.

There was no comment from the government or law enforcement agencies.

The incident took place in the new parliament building inaugurated by Modi in May.

In 2001, more than ten people, including five gunmen, were killed in an attack on the old building in the same building, which New Delhi blamed on the customers of Pakistan.

After the attack, the nuclear-armed Indian and Pakistani forces gathered one million troops on both sides of their border and were on the warpath before months of international protests stopped it.

The parliament building is located in the heart of the power center of New Delhi and there is high security in and around it, especially when the ceremony is held.

The complex has its own security personnel for security inside the building, special personnel providing a second ring outside and Delhi Police building a third, outer ring.

Visitors can get a pass to enter the parliament and watch the proceedings on the advice of the lawmakers. These buses were temporarily suspended and a full security review is being carried out, said a member of parliament.

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.