Lok Sabha breach accused wanted to form a political outfit: Investigators

The men and women who breached Parliament security and sprayed yellow smoke inside the Lok Sabha wanted to garner media attention and form a political party because they felt it was the only way to put their views forth, investigators said on Friday.

The investigators said that during his interrogation, key accused Sagar Sharma – who was one of the two men who vaulted from the visitors’ gallery on to the Lok Sabha flood on Wednesday – also told the police that an earlier plan was to set themselves ablaze outside Parliament, but it was later abandoned.

“He said that in order to form a political party, they had to do something that would get them media attention. He said that they didn’t want to align with any other political party because their ideology didn’t match,” an investigator said, citing Sharma.

The investigator said that the group planned to set themselves ablaze outside Parliament and even planned to buy a gel-like substance so that they didn’t actually burn. “He said that they tried to buy this gel online and also collected money but couldn’t get through with the payment,” the officer said.

They then reconsidered, thinking it might not get as much media attention.