Parliament security breach: Accused smuggled smoke canisters inside cavity of shoe soles, say cops

New Delhi: At least seven smoke canisters, including one unused, and two partly-torn and damaged pamphlets with inscriptions of 'Jai Hind', picture of fist in tricolour and slogan on issues like Manipur were seized by investigators from four youths arrested on Wednesday in connection with Parliament security breach case, according to the FIR.

The FIR states that Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, who jumped into the Lok Sabha Chamber from the Visitors' Gallery, hid two smoke canisters in cavities cut into the left sole of their sports shoes, which were supported by thick rubber layers.

While Sagar and Manoranjan breached the security in Parliament, two others, Amol Shinde and Neelam Verma, staged a protest outside Parliament with smoke canisters. They allegedly were carrying at least five such canisters, including one unused canister, which were recovered by the police.

The two wet canisters used by Sagar and Manoranjan were recovered from inside the Lok Sabha, while four used and one unused canisters were recovered from Amol and Neelam from outside, as claimed by the FIR. Aadhar cards and Lok Sabha passes were also recovered from them.

The FIR said the canisters were bearing warnings like 'always wear goggles and gloves', 'never use indoor or enclosed spaces', '18+ use ' and 'do not take on aeroplanes'. The canisters, which bore 'Made in China' markings, also mentioned, "for use in supervised arenas only", according to the FIR.

On the custom-made shoes used to smuggle the canisters inside Lok Sabha, the FIR stated that the thickness of the sole of the shoes was found increased by affixing an additional rubber sole at the bottom to support the cavity.

Sagar was wearing a grey colour sports shoe with light khaki colour socks while Manoranjan was wearing a dark greyish shoe and blue socks, the FIR said.

Investigators said while Sagar and Manoranjan jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber, Amol and Neelam opened the canister outside Parliament and raised slogans against unemployment and "dictatorship" in the country. Though not mentioned in the FIR, suspected mastermind Lalit Jha was also present at the spot and allegedly fled the scene with the mobile phones and ID cards of all four accomplices.

The FIR, which is based on the complaint handed over by Lok Sabha Secretariat Deputy Director (Security) Omkar Singh, said the places of occurrence were inspected by a mobile crime team along with a forensic assistant.