Army aspirant, teacher, and unemployed: Accused who breached Indian Parliament

The Delhi Police have so far arrested five people involved in the security breach of the Indian Parliament, while the sixth one still on the run. The lapse happened on Wednesday (Dec 13), when the nation was marking the 22nd anniversary of the parliament terror attack.

Two intruders jumped into the well of the house from the visitors’ gallery, hurled coloured smoke canisters and chanted slogans 'tanashahi nahin chalegi' (dictatorship will not prevail) while the session was ongoing.

The episode not only brought back the memories of the 2001 attack but also raised serious questions about the security arrangement at the new parliament complex.

While those inside the house were quickly overpowered by the security officials, two other people, a man and a woman, were also held for protesting outside the parliament by setting off canisters of coloured gas.

Even as a probe has been initiated to look into the matter, the focus has now been shifted to these six individuals who were connected with the incident, and their motive.

The arrested have been identified as Sagar Sharma, D Manoranjan, who used yellow canisters inside Lok Sabha, Neelam Devi and Amol Shinde, who burst red and yellow canisters outside the parliament.

Later, another person named Vicky Sharma was arrested for allegedly sheltering others at his Gurgaon home. While the police are on the look out for the sixth one, Lalit Jha.

So far, the police have found no common connection between them except that all were members of a social media page called the 'Bhagat Singh Fan Club', according to media reports.

Of them, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde were unemployed for a long time and were desperately seeking jobs.

It has been reported that the accused told police that they wanted to highlight issues like unemployment, inflation and the violence in Manipur, and ensure that they are discussed in parliament.

Sagar Sharma

Sharma (27), one of the two intruders who jumped from the visitors' gallery, was born in the national capital Delhi and lived in Lucknow with his parents and a younger sister. He worked as an e-rickshaw driver there.

According to reports, he was a follower of Indian revolutionary leader Bhagat Singh and Che Guevara, a prominent communist figure in the Cuban revolution.

Before going to Delhi, Sharma had told his family members that he was heading to the capital to take part in a protest.

Manoranjan

Manoranjan, another person who jumped from visitors’ gallery, is from Mysuru, southern Karnataka state. A graduate in computer engineering, it is unknown whether the 34-year-old was employed.

Neelam Azad

The 37-year-old is a teacher and hails from Hisar, Haryana. She has an M.Phil degree and also cleared the National Eligibility Test, which is required to get a teaching job.

She had also participated in the year-long protests by farmers against the three agricultural laws that were repealed in 2021, and the protest held by wrestlers against the alleged sexual harassment by then Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh earlier this year.

Amol Shinde

Amol Shinde, son of farm labourers in Maharashtra's Latur, is anAmry exam aspirant. The 25-year-old wanted to join the Army after failing to clear the police recruitment exam. He had joined Neelam Azad in deploying the canisters and shouting slogans outside parliament.

Vicky Sharma

Vicky Sharma, along with his wife, was arrested from his Gurugram residence for allegedly providing shelter to these protesters.

Lalit Jha

Lalit Jha from Bihar is currently on the run. He had shot videos of Neelam and Amol protesting outside the parliament. Making use of the commotion, he fled with the mobile phones of all his accomplices.

According to reports, he forwarded one of the videos to the founder of an NGO owner and asked him to keep it "safe" as well as ensure that it gets media coverage.

(With inputs from agencies)