Parl security breach: Delhi court extends accused Mahesh Kumawat’s custody till Jan 5

New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) A Delhi court on Saturday extended till Januray 5 the police custody of Mahesh Kumawat, one of the accused persons in the Parliament security breach case.

The same court of Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Hardeep Kaur on Thursday and Friday extended till January 5 the police custody of four other accused persons and the mastermind, Lalit Jha, arrested in the case, respectively.

The four accused individuals are — Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D., Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde. Two were arrested inside Parliament and the other two outside.

The police told the court that Kumawat was required to be questioned to unearth the entire conspiracy.

The public prosecutor had earlier said that he was involved in destruction of mobile phones and was trying to spread anarchy in the country.

The court had noted that Kumawat was involved in the conspiracy for the last two years and acknowledged the public prosecutor’s submission that his custody was required to unearth the entire conspiracy.

It was further submitted that the accused wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they could compel the government to meet their unjust and illegal demands.

“He was in contact with other persons in hatching the conspiracy for the last two years. He helped mastermind Jha in the destruction of mobile phones to destroy evidence and to hide the larger conspiracy,” the public prosecutor had said.

The public prosecutor had told the court that the accused’s custody was required to find the actual motive behind the attack, and his possible association with some enemy country or terrorist organisations.

Kumawat was arrested earlier on December 16 on charges of destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy.

Five persons were directly involved in the planning and execution of the security breach in the Lok Sabha on December 13, the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack.

Two of them — Sagar and Manoranjan — burst yellow smoke canisters after jumping into the Lok Sabha hall from the visitors gallery before they were overpowered by the MPs present in the House.

Two others — Neelam and Amol — also burst smoke canisters and raised slogans outside Parliament. Jha, believed to be the mastermind of the entire plan, reportedly fled with the mobile phones of the four others from Parliament, sources said.

Manoranjan is from Mysuru, Sagar is a resident of Lucknow, Neelam is from Haryana’s Jind, while Amol hails from Maharashtra’s Latur. Jha is a native of Bihar.

–IANS

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