Delhi Police on Wednesday said the Parliament security breach was well-coordinated, meticulously planned and carried out by six accused, five of whom have been nabbed. Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D who were held inside the Lok Sabha chamber, and Amol Shinde and Neelam -- caught outside Parliament -- are in police custody. All six were known to each other and were staying in a house in Gurugram, they claimed.
According to sources, Lalit and Vikram are suspected to be their accomplices. While Vikram has been detained from Gurugram, Delhi Police teams have been sent to various locations to nab Lalit. "No mobile phones have been found on the accused and police are looking for their phones," said a police source. The accused set off coloured smoke canisters both inside and outside the Parliament. They also indulged in sloganeering outside the Parliament.
The incident happened minutes after two people jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery and opened canisters that emitted a similar-coloured smoke, triggering panic among the MPs. They were identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D. Video footages from the House's CCTV system revealed one man, donned in a dark blue shirt, leaping across desks to evade capture, while the second was in the visitors' gallery spraying smoke. Television footage showed them jumping from desk to desk, and appeared to be headed towards the Well of the House. Both men were overpowered by MPs and security staff.
In another video showed a Lok Sabha official reading to the House seconds before the chaos. Suddenly, shouts of "catch him, catch him" can be heard.
Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs. Around the same time, Amol Shinde and Neelam sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans "tanashahi nahi chalegi" outside the Parliament premises. The incidents came on a day when the nation is observing the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack. Terrorists from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed outfits attacked the Parliament complex on this day in 2001, killing nine people.
Police sources said the Parliament security breach was a well-planned and well-coordinated incident carried out by six people, all of whom were in contact with each other over Instagram and other social media platforms where they hatched the plan.The accused devised the plan a few days ago and carried out a recce, they said. "Five of them stayed at Vikram's residence in Gurugram before coming to the Parliament. As per the plan, all six wanted to go inside the parliament but only two got passes," the source said. Interrogation of Amol Shinde revealed that the six accused had known each other for the past four years through social media.
"They had the same ideology and hence decided to give a message to the government. The security agencies are trying to ascertain if they were instructed by anyone or any organisation. During interrogation, Amol said they were upset with issues like the farmers' protest, Manipur crisis, unemployment, that's why they committed this act," a police source said.
