The local police have swooped down in the Zari village (Navkund) in Chakur tehsil of Maharashtra’s Latur district after it became clear that Amol Dhanraj Shinde, 25, one of the four people involved in Wednesday’s security breach at Parliament, hailed from there.
Shinde and 42-year-old Neelam from Haryana were reportedly involved in protesting outside the Parliament near New Delhi’s Transport Bhavan and subsequently detained while two others, identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, reportedly jumped into the Parliament’s seating area from the galleries and opened canisters that emitted a yellow-coloured smoke.
At Zari, about 35 km from Latur city, the police teams are conducting inquiries with Shinde’s parents and reviewing his educational documents.
“His parents have informed us that he was staying away from them to prepare for Army recruitment. He is a sportsman. He had gone to Delhi a few days ago and told the parents he was going there for a recruitment drive. Our inquiries are still on,” said a source in Latur Police.
Amol’s parents told the media that they became aware of the incident only after the police came inquiring.
“We don’t know anything about the incident yet. He only told us he was going for a recruitment drive. He hasn’t called us since he went there. His phone has been switched off since then. He has participated in recruitment drives many times before this – in Ratnagiri, Aurangabad, Nashik. This is his second time to Delhi,” his father Dhanraj told media persons in Zari.
He said the police had only asked about Amol when he was with them but not told them about what happened in Delhi.
His mother told media personnel that Amol had been depressed due to his failure to clear the Army recruitment. “We don’t know what caused him to do this, but he had been feeling dejected as, despite his efforts, he wasn’t getting in. ‘What’s the use of my education and preparation if I can’t get in!,’ he used to say,” his mother told television reporters in Zari.
Senior police officers, including Superintendent of Police Somay Munde, have reached the village.
Local media quoted residents from Jhari as saying that Shinde’s parents are farm labourers. “They are four siblings and Amol is the youngest. He was making efforts for the police recruitment,” a village resident said about the family.