Protests in Lok Sabha: Police register case under UAPA against accused, probe begins

NEW DELHI: A case has been registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act UAPA against those who jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber. The Delhi police registered the case and an investigation has started. The Delhi police informed that six people prepared the plan and four were directly involved in the incident. Apart from UAPA, various sections under IPC have also been charged against the accused.

Sagar Sharma of Lucknow, D Manoranjan of Mysuru, Neelam Devi from Hisar in Haryana and Amol Shinde from Maharashtra were arrested at the spot. Their aide Lalit Jha was arrested later. A search is on for Vicky Sharma. The conspiracy was hatched at Lalit Jha's house.

Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan, who were sitting in the front row of the visitors’ gallery near the media gallery of the Lok Sabha, jumped down.

They shouted slogans and moved towards the Speaker's seat. A smoke spray hidden in the shoes was used. Sagar Sharma was seized by RLP MP Hanuman Beniwal and Congress' Gurjit Singh Ojla. Manoranjan was caught later. Yellow smoke spread in the sabha. The MPs rushed out fearing poison gas.

After the 2001 Parliament attack, two men got inside with the gas shell hidden in their shoes after bypassing the four-tier security system. It was a mistake as the metal detector could not find it.

The security personnel who were sitting with the visitors in the gallery could not stop the two jumping down. It was decided to install glass in the visitors’ gallery. After the incident, the Lok Sabha which was adjourned till 2 pm later convened and condemned the attack. The Speaker praised the MPs and security personnel who confronted the assailants.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bhopal to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Anupriya Patel, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Kerala MPs K Muralidharan, M K Raghavan, Dean Kuriakose, Benny Behnan, Ramya Haridas and others were present in the assembly.