In an incident of major security breach, two people stormed into the Lok Sabha with gas-emitting objects or smoke cannisters on Wednesday. The incident which triggered major fear in the Lower House, occured at a time when Bharatiya Janata Party MP Khagen Murmu was delivering his address.
Murmu. a first time BJP MP represents West Bengal’s Maldaha at the House. He started his current tenure in May 2019, when he was elected to the Lok Sabha.
The 63-year old MP has served four terms as a CPI(M) MLA from Habibpur constituency from 2001 to 2019.
The Santhali leader, belonging to a dominant tribal community in Bengal’s politics joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019 and was selected for Lok Sabha 2019 general election from Malda Uttar (Lok Sabha constituency).
He completed his graduation in Bachelor of Arts from Magadh University in Bihar. In 1993, he became a member of the Malda Zilla Parishad and held the position till 1998.
In 1998, he became the vice president of the Malda Zilla Parishad.
As a Lok Sabha lawmaker, the 61-year-old is a member of the standing committee on food, consumer affairs and public distribution and also a member, consultative committee, ministry of Jal Shakti.
Dramatic TV footage showed one of the unidentified persons jumping over the benches for the lawmakers. News18 has learnt that two people have been taken into custody.
#WATCH | An unidentified man jumps from the visitor’s gallery of Lok Sabha after which there was a slight commotion and the House was adjourned. pic.twitter.com/Fas1LQyaO4— ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2023
According to preliminary probe, tear-gas canisters were found in the shoes of one of the suspects. Apart from the accused, who was nabbed inside the Parliament, a woman and man were also taken into custody while they were protesting outside the Parliament in front of Transport Bhawan.
The incident comes on the 22nd anniversary of the deadly 2001 parliament attack. A police source later told CNN-News18 that the incident was not linked to the Parliament attack.
