New Delhi, Dec 16: A Delhi court on Saturday sent Mahesh Kumawat, arrested in the Parliament security breach case, to police remand for seven days for custodial interrogation after the prosecution alleged that he was involved in the conspiracy for the “last two years”. Special Judge Hardeep Kaur remanded Kumawat in Delhi police’s custody after the public prosecutor told the court that the accused “wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they can compel the government to meet their unjust and illegal demands”.
“He was in contact with other accused persons in hatching the conspiracy for the last two years. He helped the mastermind accused, Lalit Jha, in the destruction of the mobile phone to destroy evidence and to hide the larger conspiracy,” the prosecutor told the court, adding he was required to be questioned to unearth the entire conspiracy.
The court passed the order on an application filed by the city police which sought his custody for 15 days.
The defence counsel opposed the police application, claiming that the Kumawat was arrested without any reason in a violation of his fundamental rights.
During the arguments, the prosecutor told the court that the custody of the accused was required “to find the actual motive behind the attack and his association with enemy country and terrorist organisations”.
According to Delhi police, Kumawat has been arrested on charges of destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy.
It was the sixth arrest in the case. Kumawat had come on his own to a police station along with Lalit Jha on Thursday night and both were handed over to the Special Cell. He was being questioned since then, the police said. He was a member of the now-deleted Bhagat Singh Fan Club page created by the accused, they said.
Bengal LoP alleges Lalit Jha’s association with TMC youth wing
Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday alleged that Lalit Jha, the alleged mastermind in the Parliament security breach case, was associated with the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress. The TMC, however, dismissed the allegation. In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on Wednesday, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow-coloured smoke from canisters and raised slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.
“Lalit Jha is rank and file of Trinamool Yuva,” Adhikari, the BJP MLA from Nandigram, told reporters at Bagdogra airport.
Adhikari claimed that Jha’s photos with various TMC leaders, including MLA and councillors and TMC Yuva leaders in the state, have come to the fore.
“He is a known face of Trinamool Congress youth wing,” he alleged. Jha and his family members, who hail from Bihar’s Darbhanga, have been living in Kolkata for some decades now.
Dismissing Adhikari’s allegation, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told PTI that Jha was never associated with the ruling party in West Bengal. “The biggest question is why were passes to the two persons who breached the Parliament security given by a BJP MP,” Ghosh said.
BJP MP Pratap Simha had issued visitor passes to the two persons. (PTI)
