Parliament security breach mastermind Lalit Jha burnt mobile phones of associates to destroy evidence

NEW DELHI: Lalit Jha, the fifth accused and mastermind in Parliament security breach case, has burnt the mobile phones of his associates along with his friend Mahesh after fleeing to Rajasthan’s Kuchaman, said police sources.

Ahead of the incident, all four accused had handed over their mobile phones to Jha so that crucial investigation details cannot get into police hands as they were anticipating their arrest.

In Kuchaman, Jha met his friend Mahesh, who got him a room for the night. Both of them had met through Facebook, as revealed by Jha during his interrogation. However, Delhi police are verifying all the claims made by Jha. Jha was also present outside Parliament and captured the video of two of his accomplices with the intent to publicise it.

Ahead of Jha’s arrest, with the help of technical surveillance, police first detained Mahesh’s cousin Kailash, who told them that Mahesh and Lalit had gone to Delhi. Later, when Jha returned, he was arrested. According to the Delhi Police, “Lalit Jha came to the police station on his own, after which the police arrested him and started the interrogation”.

Police informed that two people, one of whom identified as Vicky, and his wife are being interrogated. Meanwhile, Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Thursday granted seven days of custodial remand of all four accused persons arrested in connection with the Parliament security breach matter.

Additional Sessions Judge Dr Hardeep Kaur on Thursday allowed the police to take all four accused — Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde and Neelam Devi — to Mumbai, Mysuru and Lucknow to probe and find actual motives behind their act. According to the Delhi Police, the accused persons had purchased special shoes from Lucknow and canisters from Mumbai.

This was a well-planned conspiracy and attack on the Parliament of India. Police lawyers further submitted that the accused carried a pamphlet, declared Prime Minister Modi a missing person, and said the person who found him would be paid money from the Swiss Bank.

The accused persons showed the Prime Minister like a proclaimed offender. Police informed the court that it had registered the FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and had also added sections of stringent 16 (terrorism) and 18 (conspiracy for terrorism) of the UAPA Act.

Police sources revealed that Lalit Jha was the mastermind behind the incident and it was he who had decided on the date to carry out the breach incident inside Parliament

“Lalit Jha had called everyone for a meeting in Gurugram. Before carrying out the incident, Lalit himself took possession of the phones of the four accused and ran away”, police sources said.

Lalit Jha also sent a video of the incident to Nilaksha Aich, an NGO founder. Nilaksha Aich who runs an NGO working on tribal education in West Bengal’s Purulia district said that the accused Lalit Jha was a member of that organisation.

Asked about the accused behaviour’s pattern, Aich said, “He never said anything about himself to me. He has always kept his details shady. He never mentioned his whereabouts who are in his family or not. I have not seen him being violent personally”.

Nilaksha Aich said, “It was around 12.50 pm on that day, he asked me to see the media coverage. I did not know anything as such as I was attending college at that time. After I returned home, I saw the whole coverage. He asked me to keep the video with me. He is not a close friend of mine, I have an NGO of mine that works with tribal development. He was a member of an organisation. I came across him in April”, Nilaksha Aich.

According to police sources, all the accused were associated with the social media page ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’. Everyone met in Mysuru about one-and-half-years ago. Sagar came from Lucknow in July, but could not go inside Parliament House. On December 10, one by one, everyone reached Delhi from their respective states. Everyone met near India Gate where coloured crackers were distributed to everyone.

The Lok Sabha secretariat on Thursday suspended eight security personnel over security lapses that led to a major security breach in Parliament on Wednesday. The security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack.

Two people, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by the MPs.

A case was registered against the accused under multiple relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the Parliament Security breach incident. A case under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespassing), Section 153 (want only giving provocation with an intent to cause riot), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from the discharge of his duty) of IPC. (ANI)