LS security breach 'mastermind' Lalit Jha surrenders before Delhi Police

The alleged mastermind behind the Parliament security breach case, Lalit Jha, surrendered before the Delhi Police on Thursday night, officials privy to the probe told IANS over phone.

"Yes, we have Jha in our custody. We will share more details after we question him," an officer said.

Jha surrendered before the Kartavya Path police station in New Delhi district.

"He has been handed over to the Special Cell for further investigation," a source said.

Earlier on Thursday, the four main accused arrested in connection with the case -- Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D., Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde -- were sent to seven-day police custody by a Delhi court.

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

The case registered against them and Jha, a native of Bihar, at the Parliament Street police station invokes Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 452 (trespassing), 153 (provocation with intent to cause a riot), 186 (obstructing public servants in the discharge of public functions), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

According to sources, the five main accused had reportedly spent the night before the incident at the residence of a person named Vikram alias Vicky Sharma in Sector 7, Gurugram. They had left the house at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

Vikram and his wife Rakhi, who were detained in connection with the case, were let go on Thursday evening after hours of questioning.

As per a source, Jha took away the mobile phones of the four other accused just before executing their plan and made a hasty getaway.

He also reportedly filmed the protest by Amol and Neelam outside the Parliament and shared it with a person named Nilakkha Aich, who is linked to an NGO (Samovadi Subash) in West Bengal.

As per sources, a team from the Special Cell of Delhi Police is expected to go to West Bengal to question Aich, a second-year under-graduate student at a reputed college in the state.

All the five accused involved in the security breach were connected through the 'Bhagat Singh Fan Club' page on Facebook, sources privy to the probe told IANS, adding that the investigators suspect that they were being directed by someone both before and during the act.