Parliament security breach case: Delhi court sends ‘mastermind’ to 7-day police custody

PTI, Dec 15, 2023, 7:29 PM IST

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New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday sent Lalit Jha, arrested in the Parliament security breach case, to 7-day custody of the Delhi Police that claimed he was the “mastermind” of the shocking incident.

Special Judge Hardeep Kaur remanded Jha in Delhi police’s custody on an application moved by the prosecution, which said he was required to be questioned to unearth the entire conspiracy.

During the brief hearing, the prosecutor told the court that Jha was arrested on Thursday night, after which he was subjected to “detailed interrogation”.

“He disclosed how he is the mastermind of the entire conspiracy… He is required to unearth the entire conspiracy and the modus operandi,” the public prosecutor told the court while seeking his remand for 15 days.

Police also said he needed to be questioned about a phone he was using and has not been traced yet.

Jha, accompanied by a man, turned himself in at the Kartavya Path police station in the national capital last evening where he was arrested before being handed over to the Special Cell, the specialised counter terror unit of the city police.

Police claimed Jha has admitted that the accused met many times to hatch a conspiracy to breach Parliament security.

“Jha disclosed that they wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they can compel the government to meet their demands. He took the phones (of other accused) to hide them and to destroy evidence as part of the larger conspiracy. He disclosed that he threw his phone away on way from Jaipur to Delhi,” police told the court.

Police said Jha’s custodial interrogation was required for “in depth investigation to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the attack, involvement of other persons and to find the actual motive behind the attack”.

Besides, he was also required to be interrogated to ascertain whether the accused had association with any enemy country or terrorist organisation, police said.

“We need him to confront the accused with each other, to locate the mobile phones, to take him to locate the hotel where stayed for 4 days, and to know the financial transaction and funding behind the attack,” police told the court.

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

Around the same time, two others, including a woman, raised slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters outside the Parliament premises. They were promptly subdued by security personnel.

According to police, the security breach was well-coordinated, meticulously planned and carried out by six people, all of whom are now in police custody.

While Sagar, Manoranjan, Amol and Neelam were nabbed from spot, their accomplice Vishal, in whose house they stayed before reaching Parliament, was detained from Gurugram.