Parliament security breach: In the latest update to the Parliament security breach case, the Patiala House Court on Friday sent Lalit Jha, one of the accused, to seven days of police remand. This comes after he was produced before the court by Delhi police. He was also provided legal aide counsel, Advocate Umakant Kataria.
The Delhi Police had sought 15-day custody of Jha, claiming he was the "mastermind" of the case. "He is a mastermind. We need his custody to unearth the whole conspiracy and main motive behind the incident. We need to travel and take him to different cities and places. We need custody to recover the mobile devices also." However, the court sent him to a seven-day police remand.
What did remand note say?
The probe revealed that the objective of the incident was to terrify MPs and create unrest in the country. According to details of the remand note, Jha disclosed that they (all accused) met several times to hatch this conspiracy. He further stated that they wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they could compel the govt to meet their unjust and illegal demand. He also took the phones of all the accused in order to destroy evidence and to hide the larger conspiracy behind them, the remand note added.
On Thursday night, Jha had surrendered before Delhi Police. According to sources, Jha himself reached the Kartavya path in Delhi and surrendered before the police. He was accompanied by a person named Mahesh Jha. Delhi police had later handed over Jha to the Special Cell. Delhi Police is suspecting that there may be a bigger conspiracy behind this incident.
Role of Jha in incident
A team of Delhi Police was also stationed in Rajasthan's Nagaur to apprehend Jha as the accused belongs to this place. It is believed that Jha was in constant touch with all the accused and the incident was allegedly carried out on his instruction, they said.
It was Jha who shot the video of the protest outside the Parliament on his mobile phone and uploaded it on social media. Notably, he had absconded with the phones of four other accused before the incident on December 13. Individuals arrested in connection with the security breach in Parliament have been charged under the anti-terror law UAPA, in addition to sections of the Indian Penal Code.
'A high-level probe is on into incident'
Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said a high-level probe is on in the Parliament security breach incident. His statements came as Opposition MPs continued with their protest, demanding a statement on the issue from Home Minister Amit Shah and a discussion in both Houses.
Amid demands from Opposition leaders for a statement from the home minister on the incident, Joshi said both the Parliament buildings fall under the purview of the Lok Sabha speaker. "Both the buildings are under the speaker's purview. We are following the speaker's order. A high-level enquiry is going on. Saying that we will not allow the House to function."
Parliament security breach
The security breach happened on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament. Two people, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released a yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by some MPs.
A case was registered against the accused under multiple relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the incident. A case under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespassing), Section 153 (want only giving provocation with an intent to cause riot), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from the discharge of his duty) of the IPC was also registered in the matter.
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