Man arrested outside Parliament had told parents he was going to Delhi for army recruitment: police

Mumbai: Amol Shinde, arrested for protesting outside the Parliament building on Wednesday, had left his village in Maharashtra’s Latur district saying he was going to Delhi to take part in an army recruitment drive, a local police official said.

Shinde (25), a resident of Zari village in Chakur tehsil of Latur, was arrested 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.

Shinde belongs to a Scheduled Caste community and is a BA graduate, said a police official based in Chakur. He did odd jobs as a daily wager while preparing for police and army recruitment exams, as per the preliminary information.

Shinde’s two brothers and parents also work as daily wagers, he said, adding that one of the brothers works in Panvel near Mumbai.

His parents told police that Amol left home on December 9 saying he was going to Delhi for an army recruitment drive, the official said.

As he had taken part in such recruitment drives earlier too, his parents did not find it unusual, the official added.

Shinde was not known to be affiliated to any political party or movement, he said.

The incident outside the Parliament building happened minutes after two people jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery and opened canisters that emitted a similar-coloured smoke, triggering panic among the MPs. The twin incidents came on a day when the nation is observing the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack.