6 arrested for Parliament breach planned ‘self-immolation drama’, dropped idea: Cops

A total of six people have been arrested in connection with the Parliament security breach incident, which happened on December 13, the anniversary of the 2001 attacks.

All the arrested accused have been sent to seven days’ police custody. Two men — Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D — had jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police Special Cell, which is investigating the case, also plans to record the statement of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pratap Simha, who had authorised the visitor passes for the two men who breached security to enter the House.

The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested Mahesh Kumawat, the sixth accused in the Parliament security breach case. The development came after officials confirmed Kumawat was also part of the entire conspiracy. He was later sent to seven days’ custody for interrogation.

On Sunday, the police recovered burnt parts of mobile phones, clothes and shoes of the accused in the Parliament security breach. According to the police, all the accused’s phones were with mastermind Lalit Jha. He first broke all the phones and then set them on fire.

The arrested accused revealed they explored the idea of self-immolation after applying fire-resistant gel on their bodies to create more dramatic scenes without hurting themselves and getting media attention, Delhi Police officials told news agency PTI on Saturday. However, they later dropped this idea, settling on the plan to jump into the Lok Sabha chamber with smoke canisters, they said.

They also considered distributing pamphlets inside the Parliament but finally went ahead with the plan they executed on Wednesday, an official said.

The Delhi Police Special Cell, which is investigating the case, plans to record the statement of BJP MP Pratap Simha, who had authorised the visitor passes for the two men who breached security to enter the House. Late on Friday, the investigators took the accused to various places where they met and conspired on the breach.

The police are likely to seek Parliament’s permission to recreate the breach that occurred on the anniversary of the 2001 attacks.

On Saturday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi spoke to reporters on the incident and said, “The main issue in the country is unemployment. Due to the policies of PM Modi, the youth of the country are not getting employment and the reason behind (this incident) is unemployment and inflation.”

The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress and other ‘INDIA’ bloc constituents of indulging in “petty politics” over the December 13 Parliament security breach incident to shield those involved in it.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, the party’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla alleged that the opposition ‘INDIA’ bloc parties are standing by the perpetrators of the security breach as their links with them were emerging.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday rejected suggestions that the suspension of 13 opposition members was linked to their protests over the recent security breach and recalled that the House had displayed exemplary solidarity and collective resolve when breaches had happened in the past.

With protests by the opposition disrupting Parliament proceedings, Birla wrote a letter to all MPs, informing them that he had constituted a “high-powered committee” to review all aspects of security in the Parliament complex and formulate a concrete action plan to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

A First Information Report (FIR) in the case revealed that the accused had planned meticulously for more than a year, carving out deep cavities in the inside sole of their left foot shoes to stuff yellow canisters that were released inside the House.

India Today exclusively learnt that the left sole of the sports shoes of Sagar Sharma (26) and Manoranjan D (34) had deep cavities to hide the canisters inside.

Family members of Neelam – one of the two persons arrested for protesting outside the Parliament on Wednesday, have filed a petition in court, seeking details of the FIR.

In a plea filed in Patiala House Court in Delhi, Neelam’s family has sought permission to meet her along with a copy of the FIR. Accordingly, the court has issued a notice to the Delhi Police, seeking its response to the plea. The case will be taken up for hearing on Monday, December 18.

The alleged mastermind of the Parliament security breach incident, Lalit Mohan Jha, who was arrested on Thursday, had gone to Rajasthan’s Kuchaman after the incident. According to the details revealed during police interrogation, in Rajasthan, Lalit met Mahesh Kumawat, who arranged a room for Lalit to spend the night. Jha, allegedly, destroyed all the evidence before surrendering at the Kartavya Path Police station.

On December 13 afternoon, two men jumped inside the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery with canisters of yellow smoke. They were pinned down by the MPs who were in the House during the Zero Hour. Two more people, including a woman, were held for holding a demonstration outside the Parliament complex. As the investigations proceeded, the Delhi Police arrested two more accused for their involvement in the case.

The FIR in the Parliament security breach, seen by India Today, has been lodged against Sagar, Manoranjan, Amol, and Neelam. Meanwhile, Lalit Jha – deemed to be the mastermind in the incident – was arrested on Thursday (December 14) night after he surrendered. The sixth accused, Mahesh Kumawat, was detained on Thursday following his surrender as well.