According to Delhi Police investigators, the four men and a woman behind the security breach in Parliament on 13th December, first connected with each other via a Facebook group for a long time. The Facebook group, named after Freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, was where the accused communicated with one another.
According to a police officer, so far, they have identified over 40 people from that Facebook group, who were allegedly in regular touch with the accused.
Manoranjan D, one of the accused, reportedly even conducted a reconnaissance of the Lok Sabha premises during the Budget session.
The police sources revealed that the five individuals, who stayed in Gurugram before the attack arrived in Delhi three days ago from their different places. The accused are identified as 26-year-old Sagar Sharma, 34-year-old Manoranjan D, 25-year-old Amol Shinde and 42-year-old Neelam Singh. While a fifth accused, 44-year-old Vishal Sharma, also known as Vicky, was later apprehended from his Gurgaon home, another accused named Lalit Jha remains at large.
Authorities stated that Lalit Jha had brought Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Neelam Singh, and Amol Shinde to the house of his friend Vicky in Gurgaon. They arrived in two groups in the capital over the last few days, per police sources. Lalit Jha took to Instagram to livestream the entire incident.
The perpetrators reportedly began preparing for the security breach in January, and even investigated the premises while on a visit to the Parliament complex during the Monsoon Session. An official said, “Three people, including Manoranjan and Shinde, had visited Parliament as a part of the recce for this protest. They were aware of the height of the visitors’ gallery from the parliamentarians’ seats and knew that they could jump below without hurting themselves.”
The name of the legislator who had signed their passes earlier was not yet known, even though they were signed in by Pratap Simha, the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Mysuru on 13th December. Police mentioned that Manoranjan D’s family knew the MP. Amol Shinde reportedly confirmed that he was in the city on 10th August, the penultimate day of the Monsoon session by sharing a picture of himself on Kartavya Path on social media.
Following the surveillance, they began formulating their strategy after realising they could get past the three security checks that any visitor to Parliament is required to go through.
Sources said, “A few days ago, Manoranjan coordinated with the personal staff of Member of Parliament Pratap Simha, who is his local MP, and sought a visitor’s pass for December 14. The official staff called him on Tuesday, asking him to pick up his pass which was made for December 13 instead. This morning, the accused left Vicky’s house in a radio taxi and reached Parliament.”
Lalit Jha, Neelam Singh and Amol Shinde remained outside Parliament, while Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma entered the premises. The suspects were brought to the Parliament Street police station and interrogated by Delhi Police and intelligence agency personnel. They added that before filing a formal complaint against them, legal counsel was consulted.
Sagar Sharma is from Lucknow, Manoranjan D is from Mysuru, Neelam Singh is from Jind, and Amol Shinde is from Latur. They arrived in Delhi three days ago via various trains from their homes. The officer said, “They met at a place near Connaught Place, from where they went to Gurugram and stayed with one Vicky Sharma there.”
Vicky Sharma resided with his wife and their 15-year-old daughter, according to a second Delhi Police official who added that the the daughter informed the police that Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D had previously visited them. A third police officer stated that Lalit Jha had the four culprits’ cell phones in his possession. “He had all the mobile phones with him because phones are not allowed inside Parliament; we are yet to verify why Singh and Shinde (who were outside the House) did not keep their phones with them.”
The Delhi Police has lodged a case against the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A police team reached the house in Gurugram earlier in the day, where all four accused reportedly stayed briefly before the incident. The officials said the case has been registered under Indian Penal Code 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 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) sections 16 and 18 at the Parliament Street police station.
