Being tortured to accept association with oppn: Five Parliament security breach case accused tell court

NEW DELHI — Five of the six people arrested in the Parliament security breach case on Wednesday told a court that they were allegedly being tortured by Delhi Police to accept their association with opposition parties.

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

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 police in the matter and fixed February 17 for hearing the application.

The sixth accused in the case is Neelam Azad.

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour on December 13 last year, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before they were overpowered by some MPs.

Around the same time, two other accused — Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad — sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting “tanashahi nahi chalegi” outside the Parliament premises.

These four were taken into custody from the spot, while Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat were arrested later.

Also read: Parliament security breach: Delhi court denies bail to Neelam Azad