The four arrested in connection with the security breach in Parliament yesterday have been charged under anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), besides sections in the Indian Penal Code. They will be produced in court today.
The four arrested include Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan, who used yellow smoke canisters inside Lok Sabha, and Neelam Devi and Amol Shinde, who burst red and yellow canisters outside Parliament.
The other accused are Lalit Jha and Vicky Sharma. Jha reportedly shot videos of the other accused deploying smoke canisters outside and fled with their cellphones. He is on the run. Vicky Sharma allegedly sheltered the other accused at his Gurgaon home. He and his wife have been detained.
The Delhi Police’s investigation so far has found that all the accused were linked to a social media group named Bhagat Singh Fan Club, according to sources.
The accused met in Mysore about one-and-a-half years back and discussed how to go about the plan. Another meeting took place about nine months back at a farmers’ protest near Chandigarh airport.
Sagar Sharma, sources said, came to Delhi from Lucknow this July. During that visit, he could not enter Parliament, but recced it from outside, carefully noting the security checks. To execute the plan for yesterday, the accused reached Delhi this Sunday. They put up at Vicky’s home in Gurugram.
Amol Shinde, it is learnt, got the smoke canisters from his hometown in Maharashtra. The canisters were distributed among the members of the group during a meeting at India Gate yesterday.
All the six wanted to go inside Parliament, but only Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan managed to get the passes, sources have told NDTV. The two entered Parliament at noon yesterday.
Shocking scenes were witnessed in Lok Sabha yesterday when Sagar Sharma jumped out of the visitors’ gallery and into the chamber. He opened a yellow smoke canister and jumped from desk to desk. As MPs overpowered him, Manoranjan opened a smoke canister. He, too, was soon caught. Shortly before the scenes played out, Neelam and Amol burst canisters outside, and raised slogans against “dictatorship”.
Delhi Police’s anti-terror cell is questioning the six accused. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has reassured MPs about their safety and said a thorough investigation will take place. The huge security breach took place on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack.
The IPC charges invoked against the accused include those relating to criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity, and use of force to prevent a public servant from exercising duty.
7 Lok Sabha personnel were suspended by the secretariat over a huge security breach yesterday as reported by news agency ANI.
(With inputs from agencies)
