Parliament probe: Accused part of 6 WhatsApp groups named after Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad

PTI, Dec 19, 2023, 4:52 PM IST

The six people arrested in the Parliament security breach case were part of half a dozen WhatsApp groups named after Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekar Azad, police sources said on Tuesday.

The accused and other members of these groups would regularly discuss the thoughts and ideas of the freedom fighters and also share related video clips, the sources privy to the investigations said.

In a major security breach on December 13, two men — Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D — jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.

Around the same time, two other persons — Amol Shinde and Neelam — sprayed coloured smoke from canisters while shouting “tanashahi nahi chalegi” outside Parliament premises.

In addition to the four police have arrested Lalit Jha, the alleged key conspirator, and Mahesh Kumawat. They have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The social media — Instagram and Facebook — posts of the accused showed that they were greatly inspired by the revolutionary leaders and therefore, decided to replicate Bhagat Singh’s act in Parliament.

Meanwhile, police have also from Meta the details of all the members of these WhatsApp groups as well as their chats, sources said.

According to the sources, the accused would also talk on the Signals app to plan the security breach and had met in Mysuru, Karnataka last year.

Manoranjan D, who hails from Mysuru, had borne the travel expenses of the five, an official said.

The police are trying to get duplicate sim cards of the four accused whose mobile phones were allegedly destroyed and burnt by Jha and Kumawat in Rajasthan.

On Saturday, an inquiry committee headed by Central Reserve Police Force Director General Anish Dayal Singh recreated the crime scene in the presence of officials from the Parliament Security and Delhi Police.

The committee is investigating the reasons for the breach in security and will identify lapses and recommend further action. The Delhi Police Special Cell is also probing the case under an anti-terror law.