Parliament security breach: Husband-wife duo released after questioning

New Delhi: The Special Cell of Delhi Police has released Vikram a.k.a Vicky Sharma and his wife Rakhi from custody after hours of questioning in connection with the security breach in the Parliament on Wednesday.

According to police sources, the five main accused -- Manoranjan D., Sagar Sharma, Neelam Azad, Amol Shinde, and Lalit Jha -- had reportedly spent the night before the incident in Sharma’s house in Sector 7, Gurugram. They had left the house at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

"The couple was released after detailed questioning. However, they will have to appear before the police for questioning whenever required,” said a source privy to the investigation.

While Jha is still absconding, the four other accused were sent to seven-day police custody by a Delhi court on Thursday. Jha, a teacher by profession, is suspected to be either in Rajasthan or Haryana and efforts are on to track him at the earliest.

Sources close to the investigation revealed that a series of elusive answers surfaced during their preliminary interrogation of the four accused sent to police custody, which makes it seem that they had prepared their answers for the grilling from beforehand.

During police grilling, all the four accused persons collectively shouldered responsibility for the security breach that rattled the sanctity of the Lok Sabha.

While Manoranjan is from Mysuru, Sagar is a resident of Lucknow, Neelam is from Haryana's Jind, while Amol hails from Maharashtra's Latur.

The case registered against them and Jha, a native of Bihar, at the Parliament Street police station invokes Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespassing), 153 (provocation with intent to cause a riot), 186 (obstructing public servants in the discharge of public functions), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

During court proceedings on Thursday, the prosecution labelled the arrested individuals as 'terrorists', asserting that they orchestrated a well-planned attack on Parliament with the intention of inciting fear.

The police informed the court that they have included Sections 16 (terrorism) and 18 (conspiracy for terrorism) of the UAPA in the charges filed against the accused.

IANS with edits