Parliament Security Breach: Four accused charged under stringent UAPA, to be produced in court today

The four men arrested in connection with the security breach in Parliament on Wednesday have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), besides various sections of the Indian Penal Code. They will be produced in Delhi’s Patiala House Court later today.

The Delhi Police Special Cell will also investigate various aspects including the educational background of the four accused, their involvement in past activities including any protests or rallies and whether they visited Parliament before yesterday’s incident. A man called Vicky and his wife, believed to be a part of the plan are currently being interrogated by a Delhi Police team.

The probe will also focus on investigating their social media activities and history, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The men are being charged under UAPA sections since the case is being seen as an ‘Urban Naxal’ conspiracy. According to the UAPA law invoked, the police can seek a maximum of 30 days of police remand for the accused men.

Since UAPA has been invoked, the police will also get a total of 90 days to file the chargesheet against the accused.

Investigative agencies want to question these people for the maximum time possible since they want to present a water- tight case for their remand.

A case under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespassing), Section 153 (want only giving provocation with an intent to cause riot), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharge of his duty) of IPC and 16 &18 sections of UAPA has been registered at the Parliament Street police station.

Later during the day, the case is likely to be transferred to the Special Cell for further investigations.

A major security breach occurred during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha yesterday when two men, Sagar Sharma and D Manoranjan, jumped out of the visitors’ gallery and into the chamber. One of them opened a yellow smoke canister and jumped from desk to desk in an attempt to reach the Speaker’s Chair. Parliamentary proceedings were thrown into disarray as the two men evaded being captured for some time initially. The House was adjourned only to resume later.

Two other protesters, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde, were caught releasing coloured smoke from an aerosol canister on a road outside the Parliament premises.