In December last year, Delhi Police has filed a chargesheet in the court regarding the lapse in Parliament security. According to Delhi Police, the accused wanted to defame the democracy of India by targeting the symbol of democracy, they wanted to gain instant fame all over the world. They wanted to gain instant global fame.
Five meetings were held before making the plan
According to the chargesheet, the accused first met on social media and planned it for nearly two years before executing it last year on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack. According to the chargesheet, a source said that their first face-to-face meeting took place in Mysuru in February 2022. They held a total of five meetings in Mysuru, Gurugram and Delhi to finalise their plan.
A thousand-page chargesheet was filed in the Patiala House court in June 2024 and the court took cognizance of it last month. A supplementary chargesheet was filed in July 2024. The chargesheet states that a group of youths led by Manoranjan D, a resident of Karnataka, had met on social media. Sources said Manoranjan is among the six accused arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell.
According to the chargesheet, Manoranjan is suspected to be one of the main conspirators in the Parliament House security lapse case who allegedly instigated and motivated the youth to target the symbol of democracy by promising them prosperity, grandeur and wealth.’’
The accused had entered the Parliament during zero hour
Citing the chargesheet, a source said that inspired by his extreme Maoist-inspired thinking, Manoranjan decided to target the Parliament House to attract immediate attention. The source said that the accused wanted to give a broader message that Indian democracy is ineffective and needs to be changed.’’
This major security lapse happened on the anniversary of the terrorist attack on Parliament in 2001. The accused had released smoke from canisters in a coordinated manner inside and outside the Parliament House during Zero Hour on December 13, 2023. Two men Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D jumped into the Lok Sabha House from the gallery and released yellow gas from the canister in the House.
Around the same time, outside the Parliament premises, two other accused, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad, also fired coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans like ‘Tanaashhi Nahi Chalegi’ (Tanaashhi will not be allowed). Manoranjan, Sagar Sharma, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad were arrested the same day as they were caught soon after their acts. Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat were arrested on December 15 and 16 respectively. All the accused are lodged in Tihar Jail.
The case was registered under UAPA
The Special Cell, the anti-terrorism unit of Delhi Police, has registered a case against him under sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code. Citing the charge sheet, a source said that Manoranjan left his engineering studies midway and went to Cambodia in 2014, where he stayed for eight months.
Citing the chargesheet, the source said that the first meeting of the accused was held in February, 2022 at Manoranjan’s friend’s flat in Mysuru, in which 10 people including Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Shinde, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat attended. In this meeting, Manoranjan showed some videos of violent protests to the persons involved and introduced the idea of forming an organization.
The source said they also discussed seizing power using tear gas as was used earlier in Kosovo in March 2018. Another source said their second meeting was held in August, 2022 at a hotel in Gurugram, which was attended by seven people as some members had already backed out after knowing their nefarious plan.
He said that in this meeting they decided to include a woman in their plan and thus they included Neelam in their group. The source said that in their third meeting held in August 2023 at a hotel in Paharganj, central Delhi, they decided to use smoke canisters for their act in Parliament. The source said that all the six accused arrested in the case attended this meeting.
Last meeting held in Gurugram
The source said that in September 2023, they met again at the same Paharganj hotel and discussed the use of entry passes and smoke canisters inside Parliament. They also decided to enter Parliament during the winter session, the source said. Their last meeting was held in Gurugram and after that, on December 13, 2023, near India Gate in Delhi, the last day of execution of their plan.
The source said that the four accused Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad broke their SIM cards and handed them over to Lalit Jha, who was tasked to destroy them all. Jha was also given the task of making videos of Shinde and Neelam while executing their plan at the Parliament gate and uploading the videos on social media. The police also said in the chargesheet that the accused were members of the social media page Bhagat Singh Fan Club and they mostly used the Signal app to communicate.
