Parliament security breach: Delhi police chargesheet says accused wanted global attention, power and glory

According to the chargesheet presented by Delhi Police in court, the accused of the December 13, 2023 Parliament security breach wanted to discredit India’s democracy, acquire immediate global fame, grab power and earn ‘richness and glory’ by targeting the very symbol of democracy.

The accused first connected on social media and spent almost two years planning their move before carrying it out on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack. A source stated that their first face-to-face meeting took place in Mysuru in February 2022, as per the chargesheet. The accused launched coordinated gas attacks both inside and outside the parliament house during the Zero Hour on December 13, 2023.

Citing the chargesheet, sources said that they met five times in total, in Mysuru, Gurugram and Delhi, to establish their strategy and determine their mode of operation.

The Patiala House Court received the 1,000-page chargesheet in June, and the court took its cognisance last month. In July, a supplementary was filed.

The group of young people, led by Karnataka resident Manoranjan D, were said to have met on social media, according to the chargesheet. According to sources, Manoranjan is one of the six suspects that the Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested.

As per the chargesheet, Manoranjan is suspected to be one of the primary organisers of the parliament breach, having instigated and motivated the youth by assuring them of richness, glory and wealth and by going after the very symbol of democracy. Citing the chargesheet a source stated that Manoranjan’s decision to target the Parliament building was motivated by his ultra Maoist-inspired thinking in order to garner significant and enduring attention.

According to the source, the accused wished to convey a broader idea that Indian Democracy is ineffective and needs to be replaced. Citing the chargesheet, a source said that Manoranjan dropped out of an engineering course and travelled to Cambodia in 2014 where he stayed for eight months.

The source went on to cite the chargesheet and stated that the first meeting of the accused took place in February 2022 in Mysuru at a friend of Manoranjan’s flat. Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Shinde, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat were among the ten attendees. In this meeting, Manoranjan showed some videos of violent protests to the participants, and floated the idea of building an organisation. They discussed the idea of using the protective gel while executing their design inside and outside the Parliament, the source said.

What had happened?

According to the source, they also talked about usurping power by using tear gas, which was previously used in Kosovo in March 2018. Seven persons attended their second meeting, which took place in August 2022 at a hotel in Gurugram. According to another source, some of the members had already backed out after knowing their nefarious plan. 

He said that they had agreed to include a woman in their plan during this meeting, which is how they had welcomed Neelam into the group.

They planned to employ the smoke canisters for their show in the Parliament during their third meeting, which took place in August 2023 in a hotel in Paharganj, central Delhi. The insider claimed that all six of the defendants who had been arrested in the investigation had attended this meeting. They met again at the same Paharganj hotel in September, 2023 and discussed getting entry passes and the use of smoke canisters inside Parliament. They also decided to enter into the Parliament during the winter session, the source said.

Their last meeting was held at Gurugram and subsequently, near the Delhi’s India Gate on December 13, 2023, the final day of the execution of their plan. The source stated that Lalit Jha was given the responsibility of destroying all of the SIM cards that the four accused, Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad, broke.

Jha was also given the task of recording Shinde and Neelam at the Parliament gate while they carried out their scheme and sharing the footage on social media.

According to the source, the police chargesheet further stated that the accused were part of the ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’ social media page and that their primary communication tool was the Signal app.

(with PTI inputs)