Parliament security breach: Lalit Jha sent to seven-day police custody

A Delhi court on Friday sent Lalit Jha, the alleged mastermind in the Parliament security breach case, to seven-day police custody. On the run following the security breach on Wednesday, Jha had surrendered before the Kartavya Path police station in New Delhi on Thursday night, and was produced at Patiala House Courts on Friday.

On Thursday, the same court had sent four others accused in the case — Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde — to seven-day police custody. All four were arrested from the Parliament premises on Wednesday.

Citing a detailed investigation, including taking Jha to different cities, Delhi Police had sought 15-day remand of the accused. "He is a mastermind. We need his custody to unearth the whole conspiracy and the main motive behind the incident. We need to travel and take him to different cities and places. We need his custody to recover mobile devices also," Delhi Police told the court.

Delhi Police has registered an FIR under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal code against the accused persons.

During court proceedings on Thursday, the prosecution labelled the arrested individuals as 'terrorists', asserting that they had orchestrated a "well-planned attack" inside Parliament with the intention of inciting fear.

The police said the individuals exceeded their rights by jumping from the visitors' gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber, which amounts to trespass. The police also claimed that the accused concealed canisters in their shoes and stressed the need for their custody to determine their actual motives and identify any other individuals involved.

“The special shoes were made in Lucknow, which needs to be investigated. They also need to be taken to Mumbai, Mysore, and Lucknow for the probe,” the police told the court.

The court appointed a legal counsel for the accused after they stated that they did not have their own lawyer. The defence counsel opposed the police's application, suggesting that a few days would be sufficient for the investigation.

The police further submitted that the accused carried pamphlets that showed and declared Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a 'missing person' with a caption that the person who found him would be paid money from Swiss banks. "The accused persons portrayed the PM like a proclaimed offender," the police said.

Five persons seem to have been directly involved in the planning and execution of the security breach in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attacks. They appear to have gained entry into the Lok Sabha using passes signed by BJP MP Pratap Simha.

Two of them, Sagar and Manoranjan, burst yellow smoke canisters after jumping into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery before they were overpowered by MPs present in the House.

Two others, Neelam and Amol, also burst smoke canisters and raised slogans outside Parliament. Jha, described as the mastermind behind the entire plan, reportedly fled with the mobile phones of the four others from Parliament, sources said.

Manoranjan is from Mysuru, Sagar is a resident of Lucknow, Neelam is from Haryana's Jind, while Amol hails from Maharashtra's Latur. Jha is a native of Bihar.