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Parliament breach: Police custody of 4 accused extended to Jan 5

The case involves a security breach that occurred on December 13 in which two youths stormed in the Lok Sabha chamber during Zero Hour setting off smoke cans and raising slogans.

Parliament breach: Police custody of 4 accused extended to Jan 5

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A Delhi court on Thursday extended the custodial remand of four accused in the Parliament security breach case – Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde – to 15 more days, till January 5, 2024.

The case involves a security breach that occurred on December 13 in which two youths stormed in the Lok Sabha chamber during Zero Hour setting off smoke cans and raising slogans.

The accused were produced before the Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Hardeep Kaur of Patiala House Courts.

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The court extended their custody on an application moved by the police.

The four accused were produced before court on the expiry of their previously granted seven-day police custody after they were arrested on December 13.

After the Delhi court sent the alleged mastermind, Lalit Jha, to seven-day police custody on December 15, the sixth accused, Mahesh Kumawat, was also sent to police custody the next day.

Earlier on Thursday, the Counter Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Special Cell of Delhi Police brought all the six accused in the Parliament breach case to recreate the event and match the sequence of events as per their versions, officials said.

The accused created a WhatsApp group with 7-8 members to flesh out their plan, sharing the entire conspiracy to breach multiple levels of security and enter Parliament.

The Special Cell is in touch with all the members of the group and is seeking the help of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to retrieve the email used by the former.

According to the Delhi Police, the six were kept in five different units of the Special Cell, where they were subjected to sustained grilling.

On Wednesday, the accused were handed over to the CIU (Counter Intelligence Unit), where they faced joint interrogation.

On the 22nd anniversary of the terror attack on Parliament in 2001, the security breach sent shockwaves throughout the country on December 13.

Two youths – Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D – jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, setting off smoke cans and raising slogans before being overpowered by some members in the Upper House.

In a separate incident that unfolded simultaneously, two more protestors – Neelam (42) and Amol (25) – protested outside the Parliament holding similar gas canisters.

All four were arrested at the scene and produced before a court, which remanded them in the custody of the Special Cell for seven days.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police said it was also trying to have the SIM card destroyed by the accused reissued so that they could access the email used by the former.

Further, according to sources, to hunt for more leads in the case, the Delhi Police Special Cell has put together six teams that will visit locations linked to the accused in Lucknow, Mysuru, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana.

The probe revealed that two pairs of shoes were made on a special order in Lucknow, as the accused learned that the shoes of visitors to the new Parliament were not checked and they could hide their smoke cans under their footwear, sources said.

 

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