Parliament Security Breach: Accused Allege Torture To Admit Opposition Links
The accused individuals arrested in connection with the Parliament security breach, in an application to Delhi court on Wednesday, alleged that they have been ‘tortured’, ‘given electric shocks’, and made to confess links with opposition parties.
The six accused, Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Amol Shinde, Neelam Azad, Lalit Jha, and Mahesh Kumawat, were arrested in December last year for causing chaos in Lok Sabha. Two of them had jumped from the public gallery of Lok Sabha into the area where MPs sit. While the other two sprayed coloured gas from canisters and shouted slogans outside the Parliament premises.
Later, police also arrested the alleged mastermind behind the ‘conspiracy’, Lalit Jha, and another co-accused Mahesh Kumawat.
During the hearing in Delhi’s Patiala House Court, the accused alleged that they were subjected to torture and electric shock to sign 70 blank pages, confess crimes under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and link themselves to political parties, reports Bar and Bench.
They also claimed that they were pressured to name political parties or leaders during polygraph, narco, or brain mapping tests. The application also stated that they were forced to disclose the passwords of their social media account, email accounts, and mobile phones.
In the plea, moved by Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Lalit Jha, Amol Shinde, and Mahesh Kumawat, they stated that they were questioned about their current and old mobile phone numbers, and were taken to telecom provide offices for issuance of SIM cards for both their old and new phone numbers.
All the six accused were presented before the Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur on Wednesday. All the accused were in the custody of the Delhi Police Special Cell until they were sent to judicial custody earlier this month.
After overseeing the proceedings, Judge Hardeep Kaur extended their judicial custody till March 11. The court has also directed the Delhi police to submit its response to the allegations presented by the accused.
