Police grill friend of key accused in Parliament security breach in Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): Police have questioned a friend of Lalit Mohan Jha, a key accused in the Parliament security breach incident, for hours in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, an officer said.
A team from Barrackpore Police Commissionerate visited Nilakahya Aich's Halisahar residence on Thursday and asked him about his acquaintance with Jha during the days when the accused was working for an NGO, he said.
"We talked with the person for hours to know about his friendship with Jha. We got information about him from Delhi Police," the officer told PTI.
Aich, who is an undergraduate student at a college in West Bengal, has received a video of the security breach at Parliament from Jha soon after the incident, police said.
ALSO READ: Lalit Mohan Jha, key accused in Parliament security breach incident, arrested
"We have checked Aich's mobile phone and noted down certain information, which may be vital in our investigation," the police officer said.
Jha, the key accused in the Parliament security breach incident, was arrested on Thursday evening, Delhi Police sources said.
Jha, accompanied by a man, reached the Kartavya Path Police station in the national capital where he was handed over to the Special Cell.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the deadly 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons on Wednesday jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery, shouted slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters that triggered panic and chaos in the House.
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ABVP protests by chanting Hanuman Chalisa at Lucknow University over namaz row
Lucknow (PTI): Police detained several people after tensions flared on Tuesday at Lucknow University when ABVP members sought to confront the recent offering of namaz by reciting Hanuman Chalisa near the Laal Baradari mosque on the campus.
According to officials, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists assembled near the Laal Baradari area and raised slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" while moving in groups inside the campus.
Visuals showed police repeatedly stopping the protesters from advancing further.
The protesters later sat on a road in front of the mosque and began reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, demanding "shuddhikaran" (purification) of the place where namaz was allegedly offered a few days ago.
Police intervened and detained some of the protesters, who were seated inside a bus parked on the campus and then taken to police lines. Videos also showed a few protesters being forcibly removed from the campus.
A senior police officer present at the university said, "As of now, we are handling the situation. We will update you about the future course sometime later."
Lucknow University Proctor Rakesh Dwivedi said, "We are talking to students and will sort this out." On being asked about the namaz controversy, he said, "We have provided everything about the (namaz) controversy to the police."
On being asked whether this meant that police were seeking registration of an FIR against those who offered namaz, he said, "It is for the police to do their part. We have cleared our position in writing to the police on the subject."
The protest comes a day after members of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) staged a demonstration alleging the closure of a place inside the university where Muslim students had been offering namaz for years.
NSUI's Uttar Pradesh unit vice president Aryan Mishra had claimed that the Laal Baradari mosque inside the university was locked on Saturday.
Muslims students offered namaz there on Sunday evening with NSUI volunteers guarding them, he said.
Mishra said that Muslims students pray at the mosque while Hindu students offer prayers at a temple near gate number 1.
An ABVP office-bearer earlier warned that if namaz was allowed inside the university campus, they too would chant the Hanuman Chalisa there.
Police presence remained heavy on the campus on Tuesday to prevent any escalation, officials said. Visuals showed groups of youths marching inside the university premises and being stopped by security personnel at multiple points.
#WATCH | Lucknow | Members of Bajrang Dal protest after a few students of Lucknow University offered 'namaz' at Lal Baradari mosque on the university premises pic.twitter.com/MBjHrqiyeB
— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2026
