New Delhi: The Delhi Police Friday filed a chargesheet in the Parliament breach case and has charged all six arrested under the provisions of stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
In the nearly 1,000-page chargesheet filed before Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur at the Patiala House Court, the Special Cell has accused Manoranjan D. — one of six arrested — of being the kingpin of the conspiracy hatched over the course of the two years leading up to the attack, police sources told ThePrint.
On 13 December last year, Manoranjan, along with another accused Sagar Sharma, had entered Parliament with smoke canisters concealed in their shoes and jumped into the MP seating area from the visitors’ gallery in a major security breach. The duo had managed entry passes to the gallery through the then BJP MP from Mysore, Pratap Simha.
Soon after, the police arrested Neelam Azad and Anmol Shinde from outside Parliament where they were raising slogans saying “tanashahi nahi chalegi (out with dictatorship).”
Another accused, named Lalit Jha, filmed a video of Azad and Shinde’s protest and streamed it online before fleeing the spot. However, he surrendered at Kartavya Path Police Station a couple of days later.
Jha’s accomplice Mahesh Kumawat, who also surrendered, was booked by the investigators for destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy as he had helped Jha flee from the spot where Azad and Shinde were arrested.
‘Wanted to become a hero’
A police officer privy to the investigation said that Manoranjan planned and executed the security breach.
“The conspiracy was hatched for the last two years and Manoranjan was the kingpin. He sent tickets to all of them to come to Mysore nearly a year before the attack,” a source in Delhi Police told ThePrint.
An investigator said the accused were “motivated” to bring issues of the public into the limelight. “They were members of a Facebook page where they shared and discussed what they believed were revolutionary and disruptive ideas. They wanted to become heroes by raising what they believe were issues of the public,” another officer said.
The Delhi Police did not provide the accused with a copy of the FIR which was initially filed at the Parliament Street Police station under Sections 186 (voluntarily obstructing any public servant in the discharge of his public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 452 (house-trespass), 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot, 34 (common intention) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections 13 (punishment for unlawful activities), 16 (punishment for carrying out terrorist activities) and 18 (conspiring to carry out terrorist act) of the UAPA.
Since the special cell has the mandate to investigate cases involving terrorism and those under UAPA, it took over the probe immediately.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena Thursday sanctioned prosecution of all accused in this case under UAPA.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: 2023 Parliament security breach: Delhi LG grants sanction to prosecute 6 accused under UAPA