NEW DELHI: Mastermind Lalit Jha, who is also the key accused in the Parliament security breach that took place on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, has been arrested by the Delhi police following a massive manhunt on Thursday. According to the Delhi Police, “Lalit Jha came to the police station on his own after which the police arrested him and started an interrogation.” The accused, Lalit Jha who had been absconding in the matter was arrested from Delhi. He is alleged to be the mastermind behind the entire conspiracy in the Parliament Security breach case. Meanwhile, Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Thursday granted seven days 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 all four accused Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde and Neelam Devi to Mumbai, Mysore, 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 and declared Prime Minister Modi as a missing person and said the person who found him would be paid with money from the Swiss Bank. Accused persons showed PM 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. All four accused were produced by the Special Cell of Delhi police, which sought their 15-day custodial interrogation. The four accused persons — Neelam, Amol, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan — were produced before the Patiala House Court while Delhi Police filed a remand plea. Sharing details of the incident, in which two unidentified men jumped into the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour from the visitors’ gallery and set off smoke cans that they hid in their shoes. Delhi Police stated in an official release, “All accused yesterday entered the Parliament using visitor passes and jumped from the gallery, which resulted in the hindrance during the Parliament proceedings.”Thereafter, police stated in their plea that the accused needed to be taken to Lucknow, Mumbai and Mysore for custodial interrogation. Meanwhile, police sources on Thursday said the four persons arrested in connection with the security breach in Parliament have taken common responsibility for the incident, adding that they were giving “rote answers” to the investigation team of the Delhi Police Special Cell in the matter. Earlier, the Lok Sabha secretariat suspended eight security personnel on Thursday over security lapses leading to the major security breach in the new Parliament building on Wednesday. The security breach happened on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament.
