Smoke attack disrupts Indian parliament, 2 held

India’s parliament was halted Wednesday after two people disrupted proceedings by setting off a smoke canister inside the legislature.

The pair were detained by security after one man jumped onto the floor of the lower house of parliament from an overhead visitors’ gallery.

Official footage from the session showed one man shouting slogans and vaulting over tables between stunned lawmakers before the smoke device was set off.

The motives of the pair and how they managed to evade security checks were unclear, with police in New Delhi yet to release any details on the incident.

“They jumped over benches and removed their shoes before the security personnel caught them,” lawmaker Arvind Sawant told reporters.

“Soon some gas was released. It was yellowish and there was some burning sensation,” he added.

(With inputs from AFP)