Lucknow youth who breached Lok Sabha security, drove e-rickshaw and actively attended protests
Lucknow's Sagar Sharma was one of the intruders who jumped into the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and set off a smoke canister inside the legislature.
Shock was writ large on the faces of the family members of Sagar Sharma, 27, at their two-room rented dwelling in Ramnagar locality of Lucknow’s Alambagh after they came to know that he was one of the intruders who jumped into the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and set off a smoke canister inside the legislature.
“He had said he was going for some protest. As soon as I got the news (about the Parliament incident), I became worried about him. I had last spoken with him (Sagar Sharma) over the telephone yesterday (Tuesday), but never knew about any plan to breach parliament security," his mother Rani Sharma said as HT visited the house.
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A chat with his family members and associates revealed the picture of a young man who was active in political protests and movements, drove an e-rickshaw and was “highly informed”. His Facebook page suggests he was inspired by Bhagat Singh, albeit in the wrong way and used to read books written by the great revolutionary. He had also shared some quotes of Bhagat Singh on his Facebook wall.
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Two days after Sagar left home, two blankets used by him were still on the bed in his 10-feet by 7-feet room, which also has a big iron trunk and a bookshelf, the last item revealing his affinity for books though he had discontinued studies after class 12 because of financial distress. He had studied at the Bhupati Singh Memorial Inter College here.
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Sagar’s father Roshan Lal Sharma is a carpenter. Younger sister Mahi also stays in the same house. With roots in Purwa in the neighbouring Unnao district, the family has been living in Ramnagar for the last 15 years.
His maternal grandmother Uma Sharma, who stayed in the same locality, also expressed surprise over Sagar’s alleged involvement in the Parliament security breach.
Requesting anonymity, another person familiar with the family said Sagar had gone to Bengaluru two years ago and returned after staying there for some days. Since then, he used to operate an e-rickshaw, this person said.
“Sagar ran an e-rickshaw for the past few years,” Rani confirmed.
Interacting with reporters, Rani said she was unaware of Sagar’s plans to breach the security of parliament house on the 22nd anniversary of the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack.
She said she was concerned about her son's safety, adding that he was a simple person who never used to get involved in illegal activities.
Nevertheless, a close associate said Sagar was “highly informed” and knew everything about politics.
“We met through a protest organised by a student wing of a group and I was amazed by his knowledge, though he studied only till Class 12,” the close associate said, asking not to be named
“He was very active in political movements and I would see him at every protest in the city,” the same associate said, adding that later he also joined a local political party in Lucknow and was seen posting pictures with them.
“However, I didn’t know he would do this as this is shocking to me as well,” the person added.