Security breach inside India’s parliament building with canisters of ‘foul-smelling’ smoke set off
Two men have been arrested after jumping from the visitor’s gallery into the lower house of India’s parliament and setting off canisters of “foul-smelling” smoke.
The major security breach at the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, comes on the anniversary of a deadly attack on the parliament complex in 2001.
The two men arrested inside the building have been identified as Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan, both in their 20s.
They had managed to smuggle the canisters into the building in their shoes.
Video from Lok Sabha TV, an Indian TV channel which provides coverage of government proceedings, showed a man jumping over desks as he appeared to be trying to reach the speaker of the house.
The man was seen being cornered by some MPs and house staff after he opened the canister and released yellow smoke.
Two others, a man named Amol Shinde and a woman identified as Neelum, were arrested outside the parliamentary building after also emitting smoke from canisters.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who was in the parliament building, said: “I saw two young men unleash foul-smelling yellow-coloured gas from canisters inside the parliament gallery.
“MPs rushed to grab these men. One person was raising some slogans. This raises serious questions on another aspect of the new parliament building – security.”
MP Karti Chidambaram said: “It was only after the second person jumped that I realised it was a security breach… the gas could have been poisonous.”
Security personnel stand guard outside the parliament premises after the breach
Some MPs said they felt a burning sensation in their eyes after the smoke was emitted.
However, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said the smoke was harmless.
He said: “All material with the people who breached the security of the parliament have been confiscated. The two people who were outside the parliament have also been arrested. In our preliminary probe, the smoke was harmless and not a cause for concern.”
Parliament was adjourned for a few hours and has now resumed its session.
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Visitors to the parliament building have to go through at least five levels of security to reach inside the house complex.
To get a visitor pass a person has to apply beforehand and a background check is done by the police.
Inside the building there are several levels of security checks and scanners.
Earlier in the day Indian politicians observed the anniversary of the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament by armed assailants who killed six police officers, two security guards, and a gardener.
The five attackers were killed by security forces. India blamed the attack on a Pakistan-based group.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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