Parliament breach accused’s father speaks: ‘Perhaps wanted to highlight unemployment before PM’

“Lalit saw me off at Howrah station. He said he was going to Delhi and would return in three-four days. I gave him Rs 250 as a blessing. Though he did not say what he would do or who he would meet, he had been working hard to get a job. He also gave tuition in Kolkata,” said Devanand, who is now looking for legal assistance for his son.

“He perhaps wanted to raise the unemployment issue before the government and the PM. This cannot be termed seditious. But we had no idea about what he was going to do,” he said. “I came to know of his arrest through neighbours.”

The family has around 4,000 square feet of ancestral land, including a brick house.

Lalit has two brothers – one unemployed and the other working in a private firm in Kolkata.

Madan Jha, the panchayat mukhiya at Adhloam village, said: “We are dismayed. We have known Lalit’s family for years. We want a fair investigation and for Lalit to get justice.”

On reports of the family being ostracised, he said, “We have no idea about this. The family has our sympathy and support.”

Baheda police station in-charge Raushan Kumar said they have paid the family a visit, and added that Lalit or his relatives “have no case against them in Bihar”.

Among his last posts on Instagram, Lalit had written a couplet attributed to a lesser-known poet, Bikram Singh ‘Narayan’: “Param priya rakhiye shanti ko hi, magar yudh se rakhiye nahi gurej; woh utna kuchla jata hai is desh mein, jo jitna adhik karta hai parhez (Make peace your beloved, but don’t hesitate from war. Those who refrain from fighting get oppressed the most).”

Lalit has been accused by the police of being instrumental in the planning, live-streaming the event, and destroying the phones of the accused. He has been booked under IPC sections 153 (provocation with an intent to cause riot), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespass), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharge of his duty) and under sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.