Parliament breach: All accused wanted to create ‘anarchy’ in country, police tell court

The key conspirator behind the shocking Parliament security breach earlier this week wanted to create ‘anarchy’ in the country, Delhi police stated in their remand plea to a court on Friday (Dec 15). 

Lalit Jha, the mastermind of the breach, was arrested as the fifth accused in the case after he surrendered late Thursday (Dec 14).

According to the police, they are probing the “actual motive behind the attack” and his “association with any other enemy country as well as terrorist organisations.”

Besides Jha, four people have been arrested so far for the breach that involved smoke bombs and protests. While Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D were arrested from inside the Lok Sabha chamber,  Neelam Devi and Amol Shinde were detained outside the Parliament building. 

Police told the court that the group had met several times in the past to plan the security breach in the Parliament.

According to the police, Jha threw and burnt his phone and those of the four accused immediately after the security breach on Wednesday (Dec 13) and fled to Rajasthan, an adjoining state in the north.

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

Kailash and Mahesh Kumawat, who are cousins, arranged his stay there, they added. The duo is also sought by Delhi police now and will be arrested soon.

“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.

Police revealed that special shoes were crafted to hide smoke bombs in their thick rubber soles.

Now, the police are also on the lookout for the footwear designer who crafted these shoes. 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.

Watch: Parliament Security Breach: Mastermind Lalit Jha makes big revelation after surrender

Notably, all members of the group are being charged under the anti-terror UAPA law.

(With inputs from agencies)