Parl security breach: Lalit Jha shared video with multiple people on WhatsApp for circulation

New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) In a major development in the ongoing investigation into the Parliament security breach, key accused in the December 13 incident Lalit Jha has divulged critical information during questioning.

Jha, alleged to be one of the masterminds behind the breach, has confessed to sharing an incriminating video related to the incident through WhatsApp.

The sources, over the phone, told IANS that Lalit Jha, a teacher by profession and a resident of West Bengal, not only shared the video but actively encouraged its further dissemination.

The recipient of the video, identified as Sourav Chakraborty in Kolkata, was allegedly urged by Jha to circulate the footage widely.

"Police have also recovered the WhatsApp chat of accused Jha and the video sent to Sourav as revealed by him during interrogation is here. He had also shared the video with others," said the sources.

The Special Cell, probing the high profile case, has recovered phone parts from the Nagaur area in Rajasthan, where the alleged conspirator behind the Parliament security breach case, Lalit Jha, first broke them and then burned them.

"To recover the evidence, Jha was taken to Rajasthan, and we have recovered broken phones," said a source privy to the probe. Jha took away the mobile phones of the four other accused just before executing their plan on December 13, and made a hasty getaway.

After a Delhi court sent the alleged mastermind in the Parliament security breach case, Lalit Jha, to seven-day police custody on Friday, the sixth accused, Mahesh Kumawat, was also sent to police custody for a week on Saturday.

On Thursday, the same court had sent four accused persons -- Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde -- to seven-day police custody.

All four were arrested from the Parliament premises on Wednesday.

Following the recovery of burnt phones on the instance of Jha, the police have decided to add Section 201 (destruction of evidence/disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code to the already registered FIR.

The case, registered against them and Jha at Parliament Street police station, involves sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespassing), 153 (provocation with intent to cause a riot), 186 (obstructing public servants in the discharge of public functions), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from duty) of the IPC, along with Sections 16 and 18 of UAPA.

He after filming the protest by Amol and Neelam outside the Parliament, also shared it with a person named Nilakkha Aich, who is linked to an NGO (Samovadi Subash) in West Bengal.

As per sources, a team from the Special Cell of Delhi Police is expected to go to West Bengal to question Aich, a second-year under-graduate student at a reputed college in the state.

The Special Cell has also expressed concern regarding the online content shared by prime conspirator, Lalit Jha, particularly a social media post in October that stated, "What India needs is a bomb."

Various posts drew the attention of the police, including expressions of discontent with the current situation. In one post, he wrote: "WHAT INDIA NEEDS IS A BOMB," accompanied by a message in Bengali, suggesting that India requires a bomb to "raise a strong voice against tyranny, injustice, and anarchy".

Jha posted similarly controversial content on his social media accounts.

On November 5, he asserted that anyone advocating for their rights, irrespective of their background, would be unfairly labelled a communist.