Parliament Breach Accused to Undergo Polygraph Tests, Custody Extended

New Delhi: Six individuals arrested in connection with the December 5th breach of India's Parliament complex will undergo polygraph tests, officials confirmed after a court hearing Friday. While three suspects, including alleged mastermind Lalit Jha, Mahesh Kumawat, and Amol Shinde readily agreed to a Polygraph test; Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D expressed consent for all three tests – polygraph, narcoanalysis, and brain mapping. Neelam Azad declined the polygraph examination.

With their initial police remand period expiring on January 5th, all six accused—Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde, Neelam Azad, Lalit Jha, and Mahesh Kumawat—were presented before the Patiala House Court. Subsequently, their police custody was extended by eight days.

Delhi Police informed the court that they had recovered SIM cards and data from destroyed mobile phones belonging to the accused. They argued that several facts were being concealed by the suspects, necessitating forensic tests, and emphasized the potential need for narcoanalysis in the cases of Manoranjan and Sagar.

The accused's lawyers opposed the extension of custody. Neelam Azad's lawyer argued that police custody wasn't required for examining social media data. Additionally, they raised concerns about the police withholding information about alleged hidden passwords and demanded complete disclosure to the court.