Parliament security breach: The alleged 'mastermind' behind the Parliament security breach, Lalit Jha wanted to create anarchy in the country and compel the government to meet their demands. He was arrested on Thursday and has been sent to seven-day custody.
On Wednesday, two people who were present in the visitors' gallery in the Lok Sabha jumped into the chamber and created a ruckus when Members of Parliament were having discussions during the zero hour. The accused raised slogans and sprayed yellow-coloured gas from canisters before being overpowered by MPs. At the same, two other people were raising slogans outside the Parliament and spraying the same yellow-coloured gas.
Lalit Jha was among the five people involved in the security breach and was filming the entire incident outside the Parliament. Though he was able to escape on Wednesday but was arrested the next day.
Cops to recreate scene at Parliament
Sources said police are likely to seek the Parliament's permission to recreate the December 13 incident that unfolded on the anniversary of the 2001 attack on it.
"We are planning to approach Parliament to seek permission for recreating the crime scene inside the House and outside the Parliament building. Lalit Jha, who was arrested on Thursday, revealed during the interrogation that he had thrown his phone near the Delhi-Jaipur border and destroyed the phones of the other accused," said the officer.
Police claimed in the Patiala House court that Lalit Jha admitted that the accused met many times to hatch the conspiracy to breach Parliament security.
Besides, he was also required to be interrogated to ascertain whether the accused had association with any enemy country or terrorist organisation, police said.
Talking about the future course of investigation, a senior police officer said that they will be taking Jha to Rajasthan to trace the places where he threw his phone and burnt the phones of others.
"After the incident, he fled to Rajasthan where he stayed for two days and returned to Delhi last night," the officer said.
Police searching for mobile phones
The officer said the biggest challenge in the case is the fact that the police do not have the mobile phones of the accused that could help them trace the origin of the conspiracy and ascertain the involvement of more people.
Police are interrogating two more men -- Kailash and Mahesh Kumawat -- since morning, he said, adding that they have not been arrested yet.
Jha fled to Nagaur in Rajasthan after the incident. Kumawat and Kailash, who are cousins, arranged his stay there, sources said.
Foreign funding angle to be probed
Police suspect involvement of foreign fundings as the way the accused made the planning and visited Delhi multiple times to do the recce of the act. Police are also looking for the person who helped them in designing the shoes with cavities to hide canisters, sources added.
On being asked, why he committed the act, Jha told police that they were upset with "unemployment".
Police have collected CCTV footage from Parliament and the vicinity to know if the accused were accompanied by other persons before the act.
Dump data of mobile phones active at the time of the incident around Parliament is also being collected, sources said. The police suspect that the accused had a plan B, in case their main plan failed.
During the hearing in the Patiala House court, police said, "Jha disclosed that they wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they can compel the government to meet their demands.
"He took the phones (of other accused) to hide them and to destroy evidence as part of the larger conspiracy. He disclosed that he threw his phone away on way from Jaipur to Delhi."
Police said Jha's custodial interrogation was required for "in depth investigation to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the attack, involvement of other persons and to find the actual motive behind the attack".
With inputs from PTI
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