Court Extends Parliament Breach Accused's Remand Till Jan 5

The Patiala House Court of Delhi on Friday extended the custodial remand of accused Lalit Jha by a further 14 days in the Parliament security breach case.

He was produced by the Special Cell of Delhi Police before the concerned court at the end of the remand period granted earlier last week by the same court.

Earlier, Delhi Police had apprised the Court that accused Lalit Jha disclosed that they/all accused met many times and executed the conspiracy.

Delhi Police while producing Jha before the concerned Judge last week, informed that accused Lalit Jha has disclosed that accused persons including him wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they can compel the government to meet their demands.

Police had also said that he took the phones of accused persons to destroy evidence and to hide the larger conspiracy. He also disclosed that he threw his phone in the way from Jaipur to Delhi.

Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh appeared for Delhi Police further submitted that an in-depth investigation was required to unearth the larger conspiracy behind this well-planned attack. Police also sought custodial remand to find the actual motive behind the attack and his association with any other enemy country as well as terror organizations. Police will also confront all accused with each other.

Noted the submissions, Additional Sessions Judge Dr Hardeep Kaur here on Friday extended custody of Lalit Jha till January 5, 2023.

The security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack. Two people--Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D--jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted anti-establishment slogans before being overpowered by the MPs. Outside it, in another incident, two protestors -- Neelam (42) and Amol (25) -- protested outside the Parliament with similar gas canisters. However, all four were sent to seven-day custody of Delhi Police Special Cell on Thursday.

Senior police officials earlier, including two Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) and Additional Commissioners of Police, interrogated Lalit Jha, during which he narrated the whole incident to officials.

According to sources, during interrogation, it came to light that preparations for the attack were being made months ago. An entry pass was necessary for entry into Parliament; hence, it was not available. Lalit had asked everyone who could arrange the pass so that they could easily enter Parliament.

From a hotel in Rajasthan Lalit was continuously keeping an eye on ongoing developments and police movements through news channels, they said.

According to sources, to unearth more details in the case, the Special Cell of Delhi Police has formed six teams that visited the locations linked with the accused in Lucknow, Mysore, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana.

The investigation also revealed that two pairs of shoes were made on special order in Lucknow, as the accused discovered that shoes do not get checked in Parliament and this can be an easy way to carry the smoke canister inside the parliament.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)