LS security breach 'mastermind' Lalit Jha surrenders before Delhi Police

Lalit Mohan Jha, a key accused in the Parliament security breach incident, was arrested on Thursday evening, 14 December police sources said.

"Yes, we have Jha in our custody. We will share more details after we question him," an officer 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.

"Lalit  Jha came to Kartavya Path Police station where he was arrested. He was handed over to Special Cell which is investigating the incident," an officer said.

Earlier on Thursday, 14 December the four main accused arrested in connection with the case -- Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D., Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde -- were sent to seven-day police custody by a Delhi court.

The case registered against them and Jha, at the Parliament Street police station invokes Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespassing), 153 (provocation with intent to cause a riot), 186 (obstructing public servants in the discharge of public functions), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

According to sources, the five main accused had reportedly spent the night before the incident at the residence of a person named Vikram alias Vicky Sharma in Sector 7, Gurugram. They had left the house at 8 a.m. on Wednesday,13 December.

Vikram and his wife Rakhi, who were detained in connection with the case, were let go on Thursday evening, 14 December after hours of questioning.

As per a source, Jha took away the mobile phones of the four other accused just before executing their plan and made a hasty getaway.

He also reportedly filmed the protest by Amol and Neelam outside the Parliament and shared it with a person named Nilakkha Aich, who is linked to an NGO (Samovadi Subash) in West Bengal.

As per sources, a team from the Special Cell of Delhi Police is expected to go to West Bengal to question Aich, a second-year under-graduate student at a reputed college in the state.

According to police, the Parliament security breach was well-coordinated, meticulously planned and carried out by six people.

While Sagar, Manoranjan, Amol and Neelam were nabbed from incident spot, their accomplice Vishal, in whose house they stayed before reaching Parliament, was detained from Gurugram.