‘Cavity made in shoe, sole thickness increased with rubber’ — FIR in Parliament security breach case

Five accused arrested, while one has been detained. FIR registered under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act & sections of Indian Penal Code.

New Delhi: A cavity was created inside the sole of the left shoe and soles of both shoes increased by affixing additional rubber soles to support the cavity — that according to an FIR filed by Delhi Police, is how the Parliament security breach accused managed to take in the smoke cannister he burst inside Parliament Wednesday.

The FIR registered Wednesday — particulars of which have been accessed by ThePrint — details how the accused had “cut shoes”, created “cavities” inside, how the “thickness of the soles” were increased with “additional rubber” in them to fit the smoke canisters. The accused have been booked under sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153 (want only giving provocation with an intent to cause riot), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespass), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 ( criminal force to deter public servants from discharge of his duty).

“The pair of sports shoes of Sharma of grey colour wherein a cavity was found created by cutting the inside sole of the left foot shoe. The thickness of the sole of shoes is also found increased by affixing additional rubber sole at the bottom to support the cavity. The inside sole of the right foot shoe was also found partly cut. (Sic),” the FIR reads.

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It adds: “The pair of shoes, along with a pair of light khaki-coloured socks, was kept in a sealed transparent plastic box. The pair of sport shoes of Manoranjan D of dark greyish colour wherein a cavity is found created by cutting the inside sole of left foot shoes.”

On Wednesday, two men, identified as D. Manoranjan and Sagar Sharma, jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber while Parliament was in session and threw a smoke canister. Two others, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde, raised slogans like “Tanashahi nahi chalegi (down with dictatorship)” outside Parliament and also opened a smoke canister.

The four are said to be part of a group of six — the other two being Lalit Jha and Vicky alias Vishal Sharma — who had allegedly planned the incident for months, as has been reported by ThePrint.

The incident came on the anniversary of the 13 December attack on the old Parliament building 22 years ago, which had killed eight security personnel and a gardener. All five terrorists were also killed. Former Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front militant who had surrendered in 1994, Afzal Guru was hanged in 2013 for his role in the incident.

What raises further questions about Wednesday’s security breach is that just days ago, US-Canada-based Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun threatened to attack the Indian “Parliament on or before 13 December”, following which, intelligence sources said, the security had been “stepped up”.

Also read: Parliament security breach was ‘part of larger conspiracy’, say police. Terror charge invoked

‘2 torn pamphlets, 4 smoke canisters’

Five of the six accused in the case — Shinde, Azad, Jha, Manoranjan and Sharma — have so far been arrested. Vicky, who allegedly sheltered the other accused, has been detained by police.

According to police sources, the four people had claimed during questioning that they planned the breach to “protest against unemployment and compel policymakers to acknowledge their concerns”.

The accused had planned to hand over their phones and identification documents to Jha after the incident, anticipating arrest, said sources.

Jha had allegedly made a video of the scenes outside Parliament and sent it to Nilaksha Aich, who runs an NGO called Samyabadi Subhas Sabha in Kolkata, and asked for it to be publicised. He had previously been associated with the NGO as well, sources added.

According to sources, Jha switched off his phone after the incident and had been on the run, but was arrested Thursday night.

The FIR also mentions details of two torn pamphlets. “One with the printed slogan ‘Jai Hind’ in English and a picture of fist in tricolour and a slogan in Hindi, whereas the pamphlet number 2 with a slogan in English on the Manipur issue etc,” — the FIR reads.

The FIR adds that a total of four smoke canisters have been recovered.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)

Also read: ‘Quiet boy’ from Latur who ‘wanted to join Army’ — who is Parliament security breach accused Amol Shinde