Amol wished to join army, wanted Rs 4,000 per month to study further which we couldn’t give: Parents

The parents of Amol Shinde, a man from Maharashtra’s Latur who was arrested for protesting outside Parliament, said their son always wanted to join the army and sought Rs 4,000 per month from them to study further, which they were unable to provide.

They said he participated in army and police recruitment drives at various places, including Assam, and even worked as a daily wage labourer as he was unemployed.

Amol Shinde (25), a resident of Zari village in Chakur tehsil of Latur, was arrested on Wednesday along with Neelam, 42, of Haryana’s Hisar, after they opened gas canisters that emitted smoke outside the Parliament building and shouted ”Tanashahi Nahi Chalegi” (dictatorship will not be allowed), ”Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and ”Jai Bheem, Jai Bharat”. After the incident in Delhi, a team of Latur police visited his house in Zari village.

Talking to reporters on Wednesday night, Shinde’s mother Kesarbai said, ”He (Amol) always wished to join the army. But I told him to work in some company as he was age-barred (for recruitment). We came to know about the (Parliament) incident when the police visited our house. The police took his documents related to sports into their custody.”

”Amol always said he wanted to study and go to Latur for that. He asked for Rs 4,000 per month, but we said that it was not possible for us. We already spent a lot and provided money for his school education,” she said. His father Dhanraj Shinde said, ”Amol worked as a daily wage labourer.

He tried for army recruitment and had gone to Assam, Nashik and Kolhapur for that purpose. Others are joining through recruitment. He might have thought how many days should I do this (work as daily wager), therefore he could have done this (Parliament act).” ”If he is saved (released in the case), he will come back to our village, but if he does not come, we will think that we didn’t have a son,” his father added. The police earlier said that Amol belongs to a Scheduled Caste community and is a BA graduate.

He did odd jobs as a daily wager while preparing for police and army recruitment exams. His parents and two brothers also work as daily wagers, they said. His parents told the police that Amol left home on December 9 saying he was going to Delhi for an army recruitment drive. As he had taken part in such recruitment drives earlier too, his parents did not find it unusual, a police official said.

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons – Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D – jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour on Wednesday, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by the MPs.

Around the same time, two others – Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi – also sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting ”Tanashahi nahi chalegi” outside Parliament premises.

Delhi police officials said that during his interrogation, Amol told the investigators they were upset with issues like the farmers’ protest, Manipur crisis and unemployment and that’s why they carried out this act. He told police that he bought at least five colour smoke canisters from Maharashtra’s Kalyan at a price of around Rs 1,200, an official told PTI. Another officer said that Amol would often visit Mumbai.