'Bomb scare' in Indian parliament

Strict measures were introduced after the December 2001 attack

India's parliament was evacuated on Friday following a bomb scare.

"We got information that there is a security threat and a possible bomb somewhere in the building," one MP, Chandrashekhar Dubey, told the BBC.

Indian television reports say that the prime minister, who was in parliament, was immediately moved out of the premises by his security detail.

Strict measures have been in place since an attack on the building in 2001 in which 14 people died.

Both houses of parliament were in session when news of a possible threat was received.

We were told they received news from the American Embassy about a bomb threat Hariram Jogaiah, MP

They were immediately adjourned and members asked to leave.

"I can't say whether it is a hoax or it is [credible] information. That will be determined by the security forces," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi said.

Sirens could be heard as cars carrying senior politicians spilled out of the historic parliament complex, in the heart of the Indian capital Delhi.

'Warning'

"We were told they [security officials] received news from the American Embassy about a bomb threat," Congress Party MP, Hariram Jogaiah, told the BBC.

A US embassy spokesman declined to confirm this but said both sides frequently exchanged information on security related issues.

Heavily armed policemen secured the perimeter of the complex and officers and dogs of the bomb disposal squad were deployed at the site.

But the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Somnath Chatterjee, told journalists there was no need to panic.

Both houses of parliament were later reconvened after security officials declared the alert to be over.

In December 2001, five gunmen shot dead nine people in the parliament grounds before being killed.

India blamed Pakistan for supporting the militants, which Pakistan denied, and the two countries came close to war.