Lucknow: Sagar Sharma, identified as one of the two men who breached Parliament’s security Wednesday and jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber holding canisters emitting yellow smoke, is a Lucknow-based e-rickshaw driver. The son of a carpenter, the 26-year-old had gone to Delhi early Tuesday, telling his mother that he was “going for a protest”, says his younger sister.
According to his family, Sharma studied up to Class 9, lived in Delhi until he was 12 years old and never showed any inclination towards politics. They also say that he spent at least two years in Bengaluru — a period that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic — but returned to Lucknow after the pandemic ended.
Sharma, along with D. Manoranjan from Karnataka, were arrested after the security breach Wednesday, along with two others who were protesting outside Parliament. Two others allegedly involved in planning the incident were on the run, according to sources in the Delhi Police.
A team of local police questioned Sharma’s family Wednesday. The station house officer of Lucknow’s Manaknagar police station, Shivmangal Singh, tells ThePrint that the family had been staying in rented accommodation since 2006 and police were yet to come across any criminal history.
According to Sharma’s uncle, Pradeep Sharma, “He had missed his train Monday, so he left for Delhi early morning Tuesday.” When asked by mediapersons if his nephew was angry with the government, Pradeep says, “He was very happy with the good work happening in the government and would vote for this government. I don’t know why he has done this.”
Praddep says he suspects his nephew was framed and influenced by someone.
“If he had some criminal background, there should have been some criminal record in the local police station. Someone has influenced him and he has been framed because we never imagined something like this would happen. He has been staying here for many years (in Lucknow), but has no adverse record at the local police station,” he says.
Asked about his nephew’s politics, Pradeep says he had never shown any inclination towards any party.
“He has never participated in any rally or political event. There would be fights in the house with his sister and parents like in any other family, but he has never exhibited aggression,” says Sharma’s maternal grandfather, Jagdish Sharma, when mediapersons ask if he ever showed aggressive behaviour.
According to Jagdish, he went to Delhi alone. Speaking about his grandson, he adds. “He would ply an e-rickshaw for a living. We would tell him that he needs to earn money as he is grown up now. He has studied till Class 9.”
Jagdish says his grandson had earlier gone to Bengaluru for work, and would say that he had a friend who was helping him.
“We have not seen that friend. In fact, we haven’t seen any of his friends. He started plying an e-rickshaw after returning from Bengaluru after the pandemic ended,” he says.
Sharma’s father, Roshan, is a carpenter, while his mother, Rani, is a housewife.
The family stay in rented accommodation in Alambagh’s Ramnagar area. Formerly, they stayed in government accommodation as Sharma’s paternal grandfather was in government service.
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