NEW DELHI: Khagen Murmu, a BJP MP from West Bengal’s Maldaha Uttar was reading out a page in Lok Sabha on December 13 when a loud sound at 1.01 pm jolted the House. It was no ordinary incident but a major security lapse at the highest constitutional body of the country—Parliament—where two persons—Manoranjan from Mysuru and Sagar Sharma from Lucknow—jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor’s gallery during zero hour, set off yellow gas from canisters and raised slogans before being overpowered and thrashed by the MPs. Within seconds, Rajendra Aggarwal, seated on the Speaker’s chair adjourned the House.
Not just the House members, but the entire country watching the proceedings on live broadcast was stunned too. Before the live broadcast on Sansad TV went off the air, a man could be seen, in the last few seconds, jumping off the benches in a bid to approach the Speaker’s chair.
Congress MP from Amritsar, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, was one of the members to snatch the smoke canister from the intruders and hurl it out. Later, while speaking to a media house, Aujla said he did so as he initially thought it to be a bomb.
Minutes after the chaos, police outside Parliament detained a man and a woman while they were protesting by carrying similar canisters that emitted yellowish and red smoke. They were identified as Neelam (42), of Haryana’s Hisar and Amol Shinde (25), of Maharastra’s Latur.
Both of them raised slogans such as “Tanashahi Nahi Chalegi” (dictatorship will not be allowed), “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Jai Bheem, Jai Bharat.”
While she was being detained by the cops, Neelam claimed that she was not part of any organisation and was an unemployed student. She said she was protesting against alleged injustice against farmers, small traders, and marginalised people.
Detention, surrender, suspensions
The high-level probe into the incident began with detainees, Neelam and Shinde, being taken to Parliament Street police station, while those who intruded in the House, Manoranjan and Sagar, were quizzed inside Parliament.
Later in the evening, two more people, including one Vikram, were nabbed from a Gurugram flat. However, a day later, they were let off after the cops did not find their involvement in the incident.
The police then registered an FIR against them at Parliament Street police station under Sections 153 (want only giving provocation with an intent to cause riot), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespass), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 16 and 18 of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
As the investigation proceeded, another name—Lalit Jha from West Bengal—cropped up and he was termed as the mastermind behind the security breach. The accused were not carrying any mobile devices with them and preliminary questioning revealed that they had handed over their mobile phones to Jha outside Parliament, just before committing the brazen act.
Multiple teams of the Special Cell of the Delhi Police immediately swung into action and launched a manhunt for Jha. But a day after the incident, fugitive Jha turned himself in at Kartavya Path police station along with the sixth accused Mahesh Kumawat from Rajasthan.
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The interrogation of Amol Shinde, a resident of Maharashtra, who was nabbed from outside Parliament near Transport Bhawan, revealed that all the six were known to each other for the past four years through social media. “They had the same ideology and hence decided to send across a message to the government. The security agencies are trying to ascertain if they were instructed by anyone or any organisation,” an officer had told TNIE.
The investigation further disclosed that they were upset with issues like the farmers’ protest, the Manipur crisis, and unemployment, which prompted them to commit this act.
Heads also began to roll as eight personnel attached to Parliament security were suspended for dereliction of duty. The eight belong to different security agencies and were on Central deputation.
But how did Sagar and Manoranjan manage to slip into the canisters, even despite a multi-layered security arrangement in place to protect the most important people of the country?
Cavity in shoes
The investigation and subsequent interrogation of the accused in the breach case has revealed that one among them had recced the old Parliament building during the Budget Session. It was none other than the accused Manoranjan D, who had attended a Budget session to observe the security protocols and at last found one -- “the shoes were not being checked”.
“When he entered Parliament during the Budget session, he saw that security personnel, though they frisked him completely, missed checking his shoes,” a source in the Delhi Police said. According to the FIR of the incident, seen by this paper, all the canisters seized by the police bore warnings like, “to always use them after wearing goggles” and “gloves” and “never use indoors.”
All the canisters were “made in China” products. The FIR also details how the two accused had made a special cavity in their shoes to take the gas canisters inside the House. The pair of sports shoes that Sagar Sharma was wearing had a cavity created by cutting the inside sole of the left foot shoe.
The thickness of the sole of the shoes was found to increase by affixing additional rubber soles at the bottom to support the cavity. The police also recovered a printed slogan “Jai Hind” in English and a picture of a fist in tricolour and a slogan in Hindi, whereas another pamphlet had a slogan in English on the Manipur issue, etc.
WATCH | Protestors breach Lok Sabha, set off gas canisters
Perpetrators portfolio: Revolutionaries or Terrorists?
The six —Manoranjan, Sagar Sharma, Neelam, Amol Shinde, Mahesh Kumawat and Lalit Jha—who conspired and disrupted Parliament were all from different states.
Jeete ya haare, par koshish jaruri hai, ab dekhna hai ye safar kitna haseen hoga, umeed hai fir milenge” (Victory or defeat, the effort is necessary. Now, let’s see how beautiful this journey will be. Hope to meet again)—wrote Sagar Sharma on Instagram, hours before he along with Manoranjan D burst smoke canister in the Lok Sabha on December 13.
The 27-year-old Sharma, who has 420 followers, and received 47 replies to the post, was an e-rickshaw driver and the son of a carpenter. He was one of the two men who entered the main hall of the Parliament from the visitor’s gallery in the House.
Manoranjan D, hailing from Mysuru in Karnataka, completed his Bachelor in Engineering in 2016 and was looking after the family farm. He also worked in some firms in Delhi and Bengaluru. He got the authorization pass to enter Lok Sabha from the office of BJP MP Pratap Simha and also introduced Sagar Sharma.
The family members of Neelam, one of the two persons arrested for protesting outside Parliament, said she had earlier participated in several agitations including the farmers’ movement. They also claimed that Neelam has also done Masters, MEd and MPhil. Neelam’s brother said she was currently staying at a PG accommodation in Hisar for the last five months where she was preparing for competitive examinations.
There were not many details available about the fourth detainee Amol Shinde, however, it was found that he was an Indian Army aspirant. Soon after it was confirmed that Shinde, 25, who was caught while protesting outside Parliament with flares in his hands, hailed from Latur, the local police from Zari village trooped into his home, questioned his parents and raided his small dwelling.
Jha, the fifth accused, was working as a teacher in the Burrabazar area of Kolkata and had quit two years back. If one carefully analyses his Instagram account, he would learn that Jha was inspired by revolutionaries --Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad. It was through a Facebook collective called ‘Bhagat Singh Fans Club’ that these accused joined together. Jha played the role of an unofficial leader of the group that carried out the security breach. Various of his posts have drawn the attention of the police, including expressions of discontent with the current situation.
In one post, Jha wrote, “WHAT INDIA NEEDS IS A BOMB,” accompanied by a message in Bengali, suggesting that India requires a bomb to “raise a strong voice against tyranny, injustice, and anarchy.”
The Probe
Officials privy to the ongoing investigation have refrained from divulging any details regarding the probe. The New Indian Express also learnt that officers have received orders from higher-ups to not to speak to media persons.
Moreover, an inquiry committee was also set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs under DG CRPF Anish Dayal Singh which is investigating the reasons for the breach in the security of Parliament, identifying lapses, and will recommend further action.
Presently, all the accused are in police custody remand till January 5. In the next few days, the cops plan to confront the 4 accused who were arrested on December 13 with the two other accused Lalit Jha and Mahesh, who had surrendered a day later. As the 4 mobile phones of the accused were found in a completely damaged state, the police will now reissue their SIM cards to ascertain the names of people they had been speaking to before the commission of the brazen crime.
Aftermath
The Opposition trained all guns on the incumbent BJP-ruled government and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the major security lapse and have been constantly demanding his resignation. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has linked the incident to the spiralling unemployment rate in the country.
But Shah has not yet spoken over the incident on the floor of Parliament. Rather, for the past 10 days, the Opposition members inside Parliament have been regularly suspended.
In what can be termed as a complete breakdown of communication between the Opposition parties and the government in Parliament, so far a record 146 Opposition MPs from both Houses, have been shown the door, leading to a serious confrontation between the BJP-ruled Central Government and the Opposition.
Seriousness of incident should not be underestimated: PM Modi
The seriousness of the incident in Parliament should not be underestimated at all. Therefore, the Speaker is taking the necessary steps with utmost seriousness...It is equally important to understand the elements behind it, what the plans are, and to find a solution.
