Delhi Police officers probing the Parliament security breach case said on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, that the accused were “self-funded and self-motivated” to do “something big” for fame. The accused also assumed that they would be let off even if they were arrested, thinking they were not committing any “serious crime”, the officers said.
On December 13, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D. were arrested after they jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs. Around the same time, Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi sprayed coloured gas while shouting slogans outside Parliament.
A video grab shows an unidentified man jumping from the visitor’s gallery of Lok Sabha, causing a scene using a colour smoke in the House during the Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: ANI
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According to an officer, Mr. Manoranjan is suspected to be the mastermind who created a ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’ page on Facebook to motivate “like-minded” people. But not everyone in the fan club was on board with doing something illegal. As a result, some members left in the days leading to the incident, the police said. “Since Manoranjan had access to the BJP MP in Mysore, he decided to barge into Parliament and replicate freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s act which was done in the Delhi Assembly during British rule,” another officer said.
“They did not have enough money to hold in-person meetings, therefore they decided to remain in touch through social media,” the official said.
“Because of the shortage of money, they stayed at Vicky Sharma’s residence in Gurugram before committing the crime on December 13, 2023,” he said.
Vicky Sharma was also a part of the fan club on Facebook. He was released after being questioned by tje police.
During investigations, Manoranjan and Sagar Sharma told investigators that there were fewer security personnel at the new parliament building as compared to the old one.
Manoranjan also told police that he carried out a reconnaissance of the old building during the monsoon session.
