His tryst with infamy took his family by shock and surprise as, contrary to his bizarre act inside the Parliament, he would often air his desire to do good to society. For someone who had cut his teeth in vocations as benign as sheep breeding and pisciculture, the ‘storming’ of the Parliament was like a hermit taking the hara-kiri route to prove a point.
Father condemns action: Book-loving engineer Manoranjan, suspect in Parliament security breach hails from Mysuru
Manoranjan’s father Devaraj Gowda, a farmer by profession, said his son had even refused to get married and preferred to bury himself in books, apart from his frequent travels from Mysuru to Bengaluru and Delhi and other undisclosed destinations.
“He refused to wear expensive clothes, but spent lavishly on books. He neither disclosed his future plans nor did he ever ask for money except for small amounts to fund his travel,” said a shocked Devaraj. “…If he has carried out any anti-national activity then let him be sent to the gallows,” he added.
Accused had a visitor pass to the Parliament: Visuals from accused Sagar Sharma’s house in Lucknow
Devaraj claimed he came to know about his son’s ‘exploits’ only after the media started flashing news about the Parliament attack. “I do not know when he went to Delhi…,” a visibly upset Devaraj said, whose family had relocated to Mysuru from Arkalgud in Hassan to support Manoranjan’s education 15 years ago and settled down in Vijayanagar, west Mysuru.
After completing his pre-university education at St Joseph’s College in Mysuru, Manoranjan, who had done his schooling from Marimallappa High School, pursued his engineering degree in computer science from BIT, Bengaluru. His father claimed former PM HD Deve Gowda had helped his son secure an engineering seat in Bengaluru. Sources with local police, however, had this interesting bit to share: Manoranjan, over the last few years, had got deeply involved in social media groups, with some even claiming that a fan page on freedom fighter Bhagat Singh was where he struck common ground with other accused persons in the Parliament attack.
Ruling out this reported radical twist to a seemingly harmless character, Devaraj claimed neither did his son ever profess any anti-national sentiment nor was he committed to any particular ideological thought or belief.
