Parliament Breach accused Lalit Jha wanted to create ‘anarchy’: Police informs court

The alleged mastermind behind the Parliament security breach– Lalit Jha — and his co-accused wanted to create “anarchy” in the country to force the government to meet their demands, the Delhi Police told a court on Friday.

According to sources, the police will seek Parliamentary approval to recreate the incident that took place on the anniversary of the 2001 attack.

Five people have been arrested so far for the major security breach in Parliament involving smoke bombs and protests. Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D were arrested from inside the Lok Sabha chamber, while Neelam Devi and Amol Shinde were detained outside the Parliament building.

The Delhi Police told the Patiala House Court that Jha admitted that he met with the other accused in the case several times to plan the Parliament security breach. Jha, who is from Bihar, used to work as a teacher in Kolkata and was sent to seven-day police custody on Friday.

Jha will also be interrogated to determine if the accused had any links with an enemy country or terrorist organisation. He will be taken to Rajasthan to retrace his steps as he fled to the state soon after the security breach. Jha, according to the police, threw his phone and burnt the phones of others involved in the breach.

“After the incident, he fled to Rajasthan where he stayed for two days and returned to Delhi last night,” a Delhi Police officer said.

According to sources, Jha fled to Rajasthan’s Nagaur after the incident. Kailash and Mahesh Kumawat, who are cousins, arranged his stay there, they added. The two are yet to be arrested.

“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,” the police officer added.

Jha has claimed “unemployment” as a motive behind the security breach, however, the police suspect a larger conspiracy, triggered by potential foreign funding.

The police are also on the lookout for the footwear designer who crafted the shoes that concealed the smoke canisters used by the accused inside the Parliament building.

Parliament’s CCTV footage is currently undergoing pixel-by-pixel scrutiny while mobile phone data around the scene is being collected for leads in the probe. The police also suspect a ‘Plan B’ in place had the main plan failed.

“Jha disclosed that they wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they could 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 his way from Jaipur to Delhi,” the police told Patiala House court.

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Sohini Sarkar