The accused in the unprecedented breach in Parliament on Wednesday come from very diverse educational backgrounds, different strata of society and belong to various regions of the country. With their ages also varying from the mid-20s to the late 30s, on the surface, there seems to be no common thread between Sagar Sharma, Neelam Azad, Manoranjan D, Amol Shinde, Vicky Sharma and Lalit Jha.
As investigators have dug a little deeper, however, some links have emerged – all of them are members of a social media page called the ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’ and at least two, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde, failed to get the jobs they wanted despite repeated attempts.
The accused have told the police that they planned the breach to highlight issues like unemployment, inflation and the violence in Manipur, and ensure that they are discussed in Parliament.
The Rickshaw Driver
One of the two intruders who jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber on Wednesday, 27-year-old Sagar Sharma was born in Delhi and lived in Lucknow with his parents and a younger sister. According to reports, he would also quote freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in his social media posts.
In footage from the breach, Sharma can be seen jumping over desks and attempting to reach the Speaker’s Chair after deploying a canister of yellow smoke that was reportedly hidden in his shoe. He was overpowered by MPs and beaten up before being handed over to security personnel.
Before reaching Delhi on Sunday, Sharma had told his family members that he was heading to the Capital to take part in a protest.
The Engineer
Manoranjan D is from Mysuru and holds a Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering. The 34-year-old also had a pass to the visitors’ gallery and had jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber after Sharma. It is unclear whether Manoranjan had taken up a job after completing his graduation.
His father, Devaraje Gowda, did not approve of his son’s actions and said he should be “hanged” if he has done anything wrong.
Mr Gowda said, “The parliament is ours… Many people have built that temple, from Mahatma Gandhi and to Jawaharlal Nehru… It is not acceptable for someone to behave like this with the temple, even if it is my son.”
The passes held by Manoranjan and Sharma were issued by the office of BJP MP from Mysore, Prathap Simha.
The Protesting Teacher
Hailing from Hisar in Haryana, Neelam Azad holds an M.Phil degree and had also cleared the National Eligibility Test, which is required to get a teaching job. The 37-year-old was among the two people who had deployed canisters filled with red and yellow smoke outside Parliament and shouted slogans denouncing “dictatorship”.
Neelam had also participated in the year-long protests by farmers against the three agricultural laws that were repealed in 2021 as well as a protest demanding legal status to the minimum support price that was held this year. She was also reportedly part of the protest by wrestlers against the alleged sexual harassment by then Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh earlier this year.
“She is very qualified, but wasn’t getting a job. She was so stressed because of this that she often used to say that she should just die as, despite studying so much, she was unable to earn enough for two square meals,” her mother, Saraswati, told reporters.
Her brother said, “She had completed her BA, MA and M.Phil and had cleared NET, but was still unemployed. She moved to Jind six months ago and was preparing for the Secondary Teachers’ Eligibility Test,” he said.
The Army Aspirant
Belonging to the scheduled castes, Amol Shinde joined Neelam Azad in deploying the canisters and shouting slogans outside Parliament. From a village in Maharashtra’s Latur, the 25-year-old is the son of farm labourers and had failed to clear police and Army recruitment exams despite repeated attempts.
His father said, “On December 9, Amol had left home saying he was going for a police recruitment drive. He could run very well and wanted to join the police or the Army. We don’t know what he did in Parliament. We work as labourers. The police have also spoken to us and we have told them that we don’t know anything.”
Shinde, Manoranjan, Sharma and Neelam have been arrested and charged under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, as well as sections related to criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity, among others, of the Indian Penal Code.
Documenting Breach, Providing Shelter
Vicky Sharma has been detained, along with his wife Rekha, for letting the accused stay at their house in Gurgaon ahead of the breach on Wednesday. Vicky works as a driver for an export company.
The only accused who is on the run is Lalit Jha from Bihar. He had shot videos of Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde deploying canisters containing yellow and red smoke and then, making use of the commotion, fled with the cellphones of all his accomplices. He had also forwarded one of the videos to the founder of an NGO owner and asked him to keep it “safe” as well as ensure that it gets media coverage.
