Parliament security breach: Police ask Meta to furnish details

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Delhi Police has written to Meta to access social media accounts of the six accused arrested in the Parliament security breach case and details of the now-deleted Facebook page 'Bhagat Singh Fan Club', where they met each other, according to sources.

Police will also check the e-mail accounts attached with WhatsApp numbers of the accused to get chat backup to know with who else they were in contact just before their alleged involvement in the case, they said on Monday.

Police have collected bank account details of all the accused to see if they received money from someone for executing the December 13 incident, the police sources said.

Various Delhi Police teams approached family members of the accused on Sunday and collected details of their bank accounts. Bank passbooks of accused Neelam Devi and Sagar Sharma were seized from their residences in Haryana's Jind and Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, respectively, the sources said.

Delhi Police Counter Intelligence unit has written to Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to access social media accounts of the accused persons and sought details of Facebook page 'Bhagat Singh Fan Page' like the number of members, etc.

The page was created by the accused and later deleted.

Meta has also been requested to share WhatsApp chats of the accused as their mobile phones have been damaged, the sources said.

"WhatsApp users need to attach an application with an e-mail address...this e-mail account is used to take backup of chats every 24 hours," said a source privy to the investigation.

Sources said that they are collecting all the data related to the accused's e-mail accounts, bank details, and family details, among others.

"These e-mail addresses of the accused will help the police extract data of their chats. We are investigating the entire case from every possible angle. We have also requested Meta to share WhatsApp chats of the accused as their mobile phones have been damaged," another source said.

According to police, Lalit Jha, the "mastermind" of the Parliament security breach conspiracy, threw his mobile phone and burnt those of other accused in Rajasthan's Nagaur, where he fled after the incident.

Police later recovered fragments of broken and burnt mobile phones at Lalit's instance. These parts have been sent to the forensic department to see if data can be recovered from them.

Delhi Police has arrested six persons so far -- Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Amol Shinde, Neelam Devi, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat -- for their alleged involvement in the Parliament security breach case. They have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Sagar and Manoranjan had jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour on December 13, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.

Around the same time, Amol and Neelam released coloured smoke from canisters outside the Parliament premises and raised slogans.

Lalit, who was present outside the Parliament gate, had recorded the act on his mobile phone. He fled to Nagaur after uploading the video on social media and sharing it with his friends. Mahesh and another accused Kailash, who are cousins, allegedly arranged his stay there.

Later, Lalit and Mahesh came to Delhi and surrendered before police.

The accused told police that they were influenced by the ideology of revolutionary Bhagat Singh and wanted to send a message to the government through their act. PTI