Parliament Security Breach: 6 involved, 4 held, says police

New Delhi: The Delhi Police suspects the involvement of two more people along with the four who have already been held in the Wednesday security breach of Parliament, sources said.

All six were known to each other and were staying in a house in Gurugram, they claimed.

Two caught outside Parliament

Amol Shinde and Neelam -- caught outside the Parliament -- and Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D -- held inside the Lok Sabha chamber -- are in police custody. Two more, identified as Lalit and Vikram, and suspected to be their accomplices, are being looked for.

Amol Shinde and Neelam were arrested earlier in the day for protesting outside the Parliament building carrying cans that emitted a yellow and red smoke, police said.

The incident happened minutes after two people jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery and opened canisters that emitted a similar-coloured smoke, triggering panic among the MPs. They were identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D.

Know each other

Police sources said that the four accused knew each other and had two other accomplices, who are yet to be traced.

"While four have been held, the fifth has been identified. The two suspects and the four accused stayed in a house in Gurugram and it seems that the incident was planned.

"No mobile phones have been found on the accused and police are looking for their phones," said a police source.

Trying for pass since three months

BJP MP Prathap Simha, on whose authorisation passes

were issued to two persons who jumped into the Lok Sabha knew one of the accused as he hailed from his constituency Mysuru and he would come to Simha's office very often, sources said.

Manoranjan D, one of the accused, introduced co-accused Sagar Sharma as a friend to the MP's office and got passes issued to them on the pretext of watching the new Parliament, according to sources.

Three passes were issued at the behest of Simha for Wednesday. However, one person, a woman, had to return as she arrived with her child whose name was not mentioned in her pass, sources close to the MP said.

The woman had no connection with the two accused.

Manoranjan D has been pursuing Simha and his office for the pass for over three months.

Facing flak, Simha's office defended him, saying MPs generally entertain such requests from members of their constituency.

Father says son is a good boy

Devaraje Gowda, father of Manoranjan, said his son was a "good boy."

"My son is a good boy. He is honest and truthful. His only desire is to do good for the society and sacrifice for the society. He used to read Swami Vivekananda's books. I think he developed such thoughts after reading these books," Gowda told reporters.

"It is difficult to understand what was running in his mind. My son completed his BE (Bachelor in Engineering) in 2016 and was looking after the farm. He also worked in some firms in Delhi and Bengaluru," he added.

Anniversary attack

The incidents came on a day when the nation is observing the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack.

Terrorists from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed outfits attacked the Parliament complex on this day in 2001, killing nine people.