Parliament breach: Delhi cops take help of UP Police to find cobbler who modified shoes of accused
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Police has sought the help of its Lucknow counterparts to trace a "cyclist cobbler" who created cavities in the shoes of Parliament security breach case accused Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D to fit smoke canisters in them, sources said.
Police want to make the cobbler a witness in the case, they said.
Sagar first tried to modify the shoes himself but approached the cobbler, who visited Alambagh in Lucknow on a bicycle, after he was unsuccessful, the Delhi Police sources said.
A Delhi Police team visited Lucknow to search for the cobbler earlier this month.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on December 13, Sagar and Manoranjan jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before they were overpowered by some of the MPs.
They gained entry into the Parliament using visitors' passes facilitated by two-term Lok Sabha member from Mysuru Pratap Simha.
During interrogation, Sagar revealed that he tried to design shoes with a cavity after he found out that they were not checked during entry into the Parliament, the sources said.
"When he did not succeed in his attempts, he went to a cobbler in Alambagh. He has told the interrogators that he bought two pairs of shoes for Rs 595 each from a shop near his house and approached the cobbler, who visited Alambagh on a bicycle," a source said.
"The cavity was found created by cutting the inside sole of the left 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," according to the FIR.
A team of the Delhi Police Special Cell visited Lucknow earlier this month to search for the cobbler but was unable to trace him. The team also questioned several cobblers in Alambagh based on disclosures made by Sagar during his interrogation, the sources said.
Delhi Police wants to make the cobbler a witness in the case and is now taking the help of its Lucknow counterparts to find him, they said.
During its visit, the team recovered a pair of shoes, shoe soles and a ruler for measuring shoe size from Sagar's house in Ramnagar in Lucknow's Alambagh, according to the sources.
A diary and some books on freedom fighter Bhagat Singh were also recovered from his house.
Sagar's family has told the investigators that he admires Bhagat Singh. His social media profile also showed that he used to share content related to Bhagat Singh and Cuban Marxist revolutionary leader Che Guevara.
Earlier, police said the accused persons in the Parliament security breach case wanted to replicate Bhagat Singh's act of throwing bombs inside the Central Assembly during British rule in India.
A class 12 pass-out, Sagar worked as an e-rickshaw driver in Lucknow. His father Roshan Lal Sharma is a carpenter and his mother is a housewife.
The police team has already recorded the statements of Sagar's family members, friends and the owner of the shop from where he bought the shoes.
Besides Sagar and Manoranjan, Delhi Police have arrested four people -- Neelam, Amol Shinde, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat -- in the Parliament security breach case.
All six have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
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I don''t know what happened, says baffled Axar
New Delhi (PTI): Axar Patel didn't have much to answer when Delhi Capitals failed to defend 264 against Punjab Kings on Saturday and looked even more perplexed after his team crumbled to 75 versus Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their second straight IPL surrender within a space of 48 hours.
Delhi Capitals were reduced to 9 for 6 inside Powerplay overs with Bhuveneshwar Kumar getting appreciable swing and Josh Hazlewood executing short ball tactic to perfection.
The result was season's lowest score and RCB cantered to a nine-wicket win.
"Even I don't know what happened. That's why they say you have to be on your toes in cricket. We have to move on from this match," Axar said at post match presentation ceremony.
The single that David Miller refused in a one-run defeat against Gujarat Titans did affect the tournament momentum for DC and Karun Nair dropping dollies against Punjab Kings only made matters worse.
"From today's point of view, you can say it did effect, but you can look back, if the catches were taken (Nair) or had we taken the single against GT, then momentum would have been with us. The game is such that there is no room for ifs and buts. You have to be positive, you had a bad day and take the positives from the last 5-6 games," Axar added.
However the DC skipper refused the notion that there was exaggerated swing on offer which one felt after Bhuveneshwar Kumar's banana inswing cleaned up a clueless former India U-19 Sahil Parakh.
"I wasn't surprised, they are world class bowlers, they swing it every ground, but if our openers or top order had played them out then the result might have been different."
Hazlewood, who dismissed KL Rahul and Nitish Rana with short balls said that he wasn't sure what kind of track would be on offer after close to 530 runs were scored in the previous game.
"Probably turning up here after 500-plus runs in the last game, was not sure what was going to happen," Hazlewood said, adding that he followed pace bowling colleague Bhuvneshwar Kumar's advice.
"Was just following his (Bhuvneshwar) lead. There was a bit there in the first six overs - enough there to work with, and it was skidding on quickly from a short of a length. Once the ball got soft, it got more even," Hazlewood said.
He also spoke about how he set up Rana, who looked in a tangle and out of depth while facing a short ball.
"In general, you wanted the batter to hit it down the wicket and in the V. The short ball was nice as well, just about the accuracy. When that ball was nice and hard, it was tough to bat. Would have been nice to bowl four and get off the field," said Hazlewood.
His skipper Rajat Patidar was also surprised at how things panned out.
"Even I am surprised the way wicket played," RCB skipper said.
"All credit goes to the bowlers, Bhuvi and Hazlewood. They hit the right areas. The swing was normal but the good thing was we got early wickets and that kept us in the driving seat. The way Suyash bowled, stump to stump, it was really good to see," he concluded.
