Devanand Jha, 68, said that his son Lalit Jha, 28, who is allegedly the mastermind behind the Parliament security breach, has not committed a crime for which he should be punished. Mr. Devanand Jha stressed that raising a voice against unemployment is not treason, and that police should release him immediately.
The Delhi Police have invoked sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, an anti-terror law, against Lalit Jha and five others.
“Lalit is my second son. He is very talented and always ready to help others,” said the father, adding he had graduated in science and wanted to become a doctor. He was taking tuition in Kolkata to make ends meet.
The family mostly lives in Kolkata, but on December 10, Lalit dropped them at the Sealdah railway station where they boarded a train for Darbhanga, he added. “He touched my feet and I gave him ₹250 as a blessing. Then he told me that he was going to Delhi for a few days because he had some important work. I had no idea what that important work was,” Mr. Devnand Jha said, now at their five-room ancestral home in Rampur Udai village, in Benipur block.
He further said his son’s methods may not have been ideal, “but the issue he has raised about unemployment in the country is right. He has not committed a crime like murder, theft, or dacoity.”
Mr. Devanand Jha is a full-time priest now, and until 15 years ago, was a farmer as well, farming 3 bighas of land. Now, his health does not permit it. His oldest child, a daughter, is married to a farmer and lives in Darbhanga. The second, a son, lives in Kolkata with his family and has a garment shop, while the third son, is an electrician.
The father says his son is an admirer of Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad. “There was a time when his Kolkata room was filled with the pictures of these two revolutionists. He always used to say that he wants to bring change in society,” Mr. Devanand Jha said.
Lalit Jha’s mother, Manjula Jha, 62, sits in a broken chair and cries, pleading for her son’s release. “I don’t know the seriousness of his act but what I do know is that he can never commit a crime. He had visited the village two years ago and whenever he came, he would teach children,” she said. She added that he has donated blood too. “Yesterday it was only when the police came to our house that we got to know that something had happened in Delhi, and that my son is involved, and police have arrested him,” she said.
Both parents say their son never really spoke about what he did in his spare time. When his mother asked what he was going to Delhi for, he said it was just to meet his friends.
“My elder brother told me yesterday that police have also questioned him in Kolkata. He is not involved in any wrongdoing; neither is Lalit bhaiya. Police also questioned my bhabhi (sister-in-law). By looking at our family do you think that any of us can ever get involved in wrongdoing? I am sure that sooner and later my brother will come out of jail,” Sonu Jha, the second son, said.
Villagers vouch for the family. Ajay Jha, a neighbour, said, “They all are very honest people.” Another villager Priyaranjan Mishra said, “We know his family very well. He is not a terrorist. He is a simple person who has revolutionary thoughts,” Mr. Mishra said. Sushila Jha, who is Mr. Devanand Jha’s sister-in-law, and lives next door, said, “Lalit is innocent; he has been wrongly arrested for no reason. Whenever he came to the village, he would come to my house and talk about his teaching in Kolkata.”
It is alleged that after the incident Lalit Jha had sent a video regarding the security breach to one of his friends in West Bengal, who was associated with an NGO, where he had worked earlier. He also destroyed the mobile phones of four other accused, reports say.
