Parliament: Passes, protests, conspiracy and probe: Top developments in Parliament security breach | India News

NEW DELHI: In a major security breach during Zero Hour in Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, two men, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan, both carrying canisters that emitted yellow smoke, jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber before being overpowered by the members of Parliament.
In a parallel incident, two protesters, Neelam (42) and Amol(25), staged a demonstration outside Parliament using similar color gas canisters.However, all four individuals were later arrested.
Chronology of events:
The accused met in Mysuru around one and a half years ago and gathered in Delhi on December 10.
Passes were issued at MP Prathap Simha’s recommendation, and the accused reached Delhi on different days.
Sagar collected the passes on Wednesday morning, and the group planned for two members to enter the Parliament building, while three others protested outside.
About the intruders:
The two Lok Sabha intruders — Manoranjan D, a 34-year-old engineering graduate from Mysuru, and Sagar Sharma, a 27-year-old e-rickshaw driver from Lucknow, who entered the House on the recommendation of BJP MP Prathap Simha — were nabbed by MPs and thrashed before being taken into custody.
Around the same time as the duo stunned Lok Sabha by slithering from Gallery 4 along a pillar into the chamber, two others — Neelam Verma Azad, 37, from Hisar in Haryana, who has been a familiar figure at protest sites since at least the farmers’ agitation, and Amol Shinde, 25, from Latur in Maharashtra — set off smoke cans outside Parliament. Verma and Shinde were also arrested.
A fifth suspect, Vikram alias Vicky, who had lodged them in Gurgaon, was arrested near Parliament, while another, Lalit Jha, who is from Bihar and is suspected to be the handler of the group, remained at large defying raids by police at his Gurgaon residence.
Intruders’ background:
Initial investigation into the security breach in Parliament has found that at least one of the accused had conducted a recce and observed the security arrangements in the building during the Budget session. That was how they knew the security personnel didn’t ask visitors to take off their shoes or check them, sources said.
Call detail analysis and initial interrogation suggest that the accused were in touch with each other for around a year and had met in Mysuru a few months ago, sources said. The suspects were part of a Facebook group named ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club,’ and Lalit Jha, the central figure in the case, seems to be their handler as per the initial probe. Lalit, who is absconding, even uploaded a video on Instagram showing Neelam setting off the smoke canister outside Parliament and raising slogans. His last Instagram post read, “What India needs is a bomb.”
‘Main conspirator somebody else’: Police sources
The main conspirator in Wednesday’s Parliament security breach is someone else, as per the initial investigation, police sources said.
According to sources, the accused had conducted a recce outside the parliament beforehand. Police sources mentioned that all accused were associated with a social media page ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club.’
“Everyone met in Mysore about one and a half years ago. Sagar came from Lucknow in July but could not enter the Parliament House. On December 10, one by one, everyone reached Delhi from their respective states. They gathered near India Gate, where colored crackers were distributed to everyone,” sources stated.

Reached Delhi on Sunday:
Sagar Sharma had reached Delhi from Lucknow on Gomti Express on Sunday. Amol Shinde from Maharashtra and Neelam Verma, alias Azad, from Jind also arrived the same day. They met at a Delhi Metro station and went to the Gurgaon house of their associate, Vikram, alias Vicky. They were joined by Manoranjan D, who took a flight to Delhi, and Lalit, the main conspirator, in the early hours, an official in New Delhi district said.
Sagar collected the passes on Wednesday morning from MP Prathap Simha’s secretary, bought a few Indian flags, and met the others at India Gate. Amol handed one smoke canister to each member. While two of them entered the Parliament building at 12 noon, three others had planned to protest outside.
The investigators found that Sagar, who is from Lucknow and drives an e-rickshaw, was the common link who was in touch with all the accused on phone as well as social media. Neelam was in touch with Vikram and his wife and roped them into the group.
Vikram lived in Gurgaon’s Sector 7 and hosted the rest. The police suspect he has links to a ‘Fauji gang’ and is questioning him about it. Vikram, however, didn’t come to Parliament. “Only five of the accused, including Lalit, came to Parliament. He collected the mobile phones of the suspects and fled before the incident,” an officer said.

Passes issued at MP Simmha’s behest:
Mysuru BJP MP Pratap Simmha finds himself caught in an uncomfortable glare after visitors’ passes authorized by his office in New Delhi were recovered from the duo involved in Wednesday’s Parliament security breach.
Sources said Simmha knew one of the two youths, Manoranjan D, who hailed from his constituency and would often visit the MP’s office. Manoranjan had been pursuing Simmha and his office for over three months for a Parliament pass and had introduced co-accused Sagar Sharma as a friend of his. He procured passes for themselves on the pretext of seeing the new Parliament, said sources known to the MP.
Three passes were issued at Simmha’s behest. However, one of them — a woman — had to return as she arrived with her child, whose name wasn’t mentioned in her pass, sources said. The woman was not connected with the two accused.
Intruders’ plea to MPs:
When caught, the intruders pleaded with MPs not to beat them, claiming they were there only to protest. They did not clarify the nature of their protest.
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MP Hanuman Beniwal, one of the first to respond as the intrusion drama unfolded in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, alleged that while two youths jumped into the chamber from the visitors’ gallery, one woman kept encouraging them from the box, and a fourth might have given the marshals the slip.
Beniwal, who was among the MPs who caught Sagar Sharma and delivered a few blows to him before handing him over to the security personnel, told TOI: “About 150 MPs might have been inside the House at the time the two youths jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber. When we caught the boys and slapped them, they pleaded with us not to beat them as they were only there to protest. We asked them what they were protesting against but they did not clarify.”
Police team reaches house in Gurugram, where four accused stayed before incident:
A team of police reached the house in Gurugram, where all four accused reportedly stayed briefly before the incident.
Speaking on the arrests of the suspects in connection with the Parliament security breach, Varun Dahiya, Gurugram Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), said, “The suspects have been detained and taken for further questioning. The police and agencies in Delhi are investigating the matter because it is related to the national capital.”

Case under UAPA registered:
The Delhi Police has registered a case under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Parliament security breach, officials said on Thursday.
Police said the four were part of a group of six people who planned the incident.
The officials said the case has been registered under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespass), 153 (wantonly giving provocation, with intent to cause riot), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and UAPA sections 16 and 18 at the Parliament Street police station.
Multi-agency probe on:
A separate team is examining the smoke canisters. These sticks are readily available and come in different sizes. Besides being used in celebrations, they are also used in photography for effects. “We are getting them examined for chemicals as, apart from dyes, they also use potassium nitrate, etc, in these sticks,” an officer said.
Sources said a multi-agency probe has been initiated into the background of the accused. “All characters involved seem to have been carefully chosen. Even the slogans raised by them don’t add up, and they appear to have been tutored. The suspects are highly educated and seem to have been brainwashed into this act. Local intelligence teams of all states have been tasked to profile them and verify their background at the earliest,” a senior intelligence officer said.

Oppn MPs flag security fears, Speaker promises tighter checks:
Hours after the security breach in Parliament, opposition leaders got together at an all-party meeting convened by Speaker Om Birla, seeking a thorough probe and action against BJP MP Prathap Simmha, who facilitated the passes of the intruders.
The Speaker assured the members that all steps will be taken to step up security and prevent such breaches in the future. Birla said he had asked Union home secretary to institute a high-level inquiry into the incident. Citing the recent expulsion of Mahua Moitra for letting outsiders use her log-in credentials for Parliament, TMC members Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kalyan Banerjee pressed for action against Simmha.
Security lapse despite alert raises brows:
Smoke canisters hidden in shoes, a novel modus operandi, caught the Parliament security staff unawares on Wednesday despite an alert issued by intelligence agencies ahead of the Parliament attack anniversary and the threat by wanted terrorist and Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to “shake the foundations of Parliament” on the occasion.
While the security lapse raised eyebrows, officials have also flagged the fact that Members of Parliament were not whisked away immediately and were allowed to come in close proximity to the intruders. The Union home ministry has ordered a security review following the breach.
Outside Parliament, police were seen handling the canisters casually while the two suspects — Amol and Neelam — were talking to the media even as they were being escorted away.

‘Neelam Azad an andolanjivi’: BJP cites video, links Parliament protester to Cong
BJP on Wednesday cited the praise for Congress by one from the group of people arrested for breach of Parliament’s security to demand a probe into any conspiracy. “Regime change is a phrase Congress leaders often use. Meet Neelam Azad, the lady who breached Parliament’s security today. She is an active Congress/INDI Alliance supporter. She is an ‘andolanjivi’ who has been seen at several protests,” Amit Malviya, BJP’s social media head, said in a post, attaching a video in which Neelam, one of the accused, can be seen urging people to vote and support Congress and INLD. He claimed that the conspiracy had been bared and added that the choice of BJP’s Mysuru MP for organizing passes was a subterfuge.