There was a huge security breach inside the Lok Sabha on Wednesday afternoon. The breach was on the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament terror attack, in which nine people, including eight security staff, were killed and India was left shocked by a strike on the symbol of democracy.

The 2001 Parliament terror attack was carried out by two banned Pakistan-based terror groups – Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed – and five terrorists were killed. Hours before today’s incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla led tributes to those killed.

“Their courage and sacrifice in the face of danger will forever be etched in our memory,” the PM sad on X, while President Droupadi Murmu wrote, “On this day 22 years ago, the nefarious plan of terrorists to eliminate the top line of political leadership… and damage our Temple of Democracy was foiled.”

The security breach also comes after Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun threated an attack on this day. Delhi Police were put on alert after he vowed to “shake the very foundation of Parliament”.

At 1.02 pm chaos erupted in the Lok Sabha after one man jumped from the visitors’ gallery and ran into the chamber. A second remained in the gallery. Both deployed canisters spewing yellow smoke. In a video shared online, the man who ran into the chamber jumped desks to try and evade capture.