New Delhi: A fifth accused in the Parliament security breach case, identified as Lalit Jha, has been arrested in the national capital, ThePrint has learnt.
Jha, a native of Bihar, is believed to be a resident of Kolkata’s Burrabazar area. According to sources in the Delhi Police, all the accused had allegedly planned to hand over their phones and ID cards to Jha because they anticipated arrest.
“They had planned it all out, to give their phones and IDs to Jha and he would go on the run. They didn’t want the police to seize the phones as that would lead us to crucial investigation details — (like) who was helping them from the outside, which organisation was funding them,” said a police source.
Moreover, Jha had allegedly made a video of the scenes outside Parliament and sent it to Nilaksha Aich, who runs an NGO called Samyabadi Subhas Sabha, and asked her to “publicise it”. He had previously been associated with the NGO as well, sources said.
According to the police, Jha had kept his phone switched off since the incident and had been on the run.
On Wednesday, two men, identified as D. Manoranjan and Sagar Sharma, jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber while Parliament was in session and threw a smoke canister. Two others, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde, raised slogans like “Tanashahi nahi chalegi (down with dictatorship)” outside Parliament and also opened a smoke canister.
Soon after the incident, the Delhi Police booked the accused under the stringent sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They have also been charged under IPC sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespass), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), and 353 (criminal force to deter public servants from discharge of duty).
Manoranjan, an engineer from Mysuru, Sharma, a graduate from Lucknow, Azad, a civil service aspirant from Hisar, and Shinde, a graduate from Latur, are already in police custody. Vicky alias Vishal Sharma, a driver, has been detained by the police.
A Delhi court Thursday sent the four who had been arrested earlier to seven days’ police remand.
The Delhi Police are now investigating whether the accused have links to any anti-India organisations, and if anyone funded their activities.
“They wanted to create unrest. We have found posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the accused’s possession that said there is a reward for anyone who ‘finds the PM’ and the payment will be made through ‘Swiss Bank’. They have changed their statements, saying they are unhappy with policies and conflicts in the country,” a police source said.
Manoranjan had allegedly concealed the smoke canister in a cavity in his shoe. The four had allegedly assembled at Sharma’s house before the incident and divided the tasks — collection of the passes, stationing themselves outside and then inside the Parliament.
Forensic samples of the smoke used have been collected from the site of the incident.
According to police sources, the accused met on a social media group called ‘Justice for Azad Bhagat Singh’. Sources further said that during interrogation, the accused had stated that they wanted to “protest against unemployment and compel policymakers to acknowledge their concerns”.
Manoranjan had also allegedly done a recce of Parliament before the incident.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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