Parliament security breach: Delhi court remands 4 accused to 7-day police custody

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) A Delhi court on Thursday sent the four accused arrested for the shocking breach of security at the new Parliament building to the city police's custody for seven days for interrogation.

The accused- Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi- were produced before Special Judge for NIA cases Hardeep Kaur by the city police, who sought their custodial interrogation for 15 days. They have been charged under anti-terror law UAPA besides various sections of Indian Penal Code.

The court, however, remanded them in police custody for 7 days.

During the arguments, the prosecution accused the four of indulging in an act of terrorism and said they tried to incite fear.

"It was a well planned attack on Parliament," police said.

The Delhi police told the court they have added Sections 16 and 18 of anti-terror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) related to terrorism and conspiracy for terrorism, respectively, against them.

"Their right was limited to gallery. They jumped from the (visitors) gallery into the Well, which was trespass. They hid (smoke) canister in their shoes," police said.

The prosecution said their custodial interrogation was necessary to unravel the actual motive behind the incident and find out if some other people were also involved.

"Special shoes were made in Lucknow which needs to be probed. They need to be taken to Mumbai, Mysore and Lucknow for probe," the court was told.

The court appointed a legal aid counsel for the accused after they said they didn't have a lawyer to represent them.

The court-appointed defence counsel opposed the city police's application for a 15-day remand, saying two or three days were sufficient for their custodial interrogation.

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons -- Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D -- jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery, unleashed yellow coloured smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by some MPs and watch and ward staff.

Around the same time, two other accused -- Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi -- also sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting "tanashahi nahi chalegi" outside Parliament premises.

Sagar, Manoranjan, Amol and Neelam were immediately taken into custody, while their accomplice Vishal, in whose house the accused stayed before reaching Parliament, was detained later from Gurugram. Lalit Jha, a key conspirator, is on the run. PTI