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‘Being tortured to claim association with national parties,’ Parliament security breach accused tell court

Five of the accused told the court that they were tortured by the Delhi police and were forced to sign about 70-odd blank papers.

BySouth First Desk

Published Jan 31, 2024 | 4:46 PM ⚊UpdatedJan 31, 2024 | 4:46 PM

Chaos after gas canisters were set off in Parliament by two youth on 13 December 2023 in severe security breach. (X)

Five of the six people arrested in the Parliament security breach case on Wednesday, 31 January, told a court that they were allegedly being tortured by Delhi Police to claim they have associations with national parties.

The submission was made before Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur, who extended the judicial custody of all the six accused till 1 March.

Five of the accused — Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Lalit Jha, Amol Shinde and Mahesh Kumawat — told the court that they were forced to sign about 70-odd blank papers.

“Accused persons were tortured/given electric shocks to sign and confess (to) the commission of crime under the UAPA and their association with national political parties,” they told the court.

The court sought a reply from the police in the matter and fixed 17 February for hearing the application.

The sixth accused in the case is Neelam Azad. Recently, the court had dismissed the bail application moved by Azad.

Also Read: BJP MP Pratap Simha breaks silence, says people will decide if he is ‘traitor’

The incident

On 13 December, two people — Sagar Sharma and Karnataka man Manoranjan D — jumped into the well of the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery, shouted slogans like “Tanashahi nahi chalegi” (Dictatorship will not be allowed), and released yellow smoke from canisters that triggered panic and chaos in the House.

The accused visitors at the gallery, who obtained passes from BJP MP Pratap Simha from Karnataka, committed the offence supposedly to register their protest against the government.

Outside the Parliament, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad released smoke cannisters and raised slogans. They were arrested as well. Later, Lalit Jha and his associate Mahesh Kumawat were also arrested.

The accused told the police that their objective was to protest to garner attention to the Manipur fallout, unemployment issue, and farmers’ crisis in the country.

(With PTI inputs)