Parliament security breach key conspirator Lalit Jha sent to 7-day police custody

Police claimed in court that according to Jha and his co-conspirators, they wanted to create anarchy in the country so that the government is forced to pay heed to their demands.

New Delhi: Delhi Police on Friday claimed in a court that Lalit Jha, who it dubbed as the "mastermind" of Parliament security breach, told investigators that the group wanted to create anarchy in the country to compel the government to agree to their demands.

As police argued that his custodial interrogation is essential to unravel the "entire" conspiracy, the court sent Jha to seven days' police custody instead of 15 as demanded by the prosecutor.

Jha, on Thursday, walked into the Kartavya Path Police Station accompanied by one Mahesh Kumawat, who is being questioned for allegedly helping him hide in Rajasthan for a day, amid a wide hunt for his arrest across the state.

Police told the court that Bihar-born Jha's phone is not traceable now and investigators needed his presence to recover it. It also said that he had collected the mobile phones of his four associates who were arrested on Wednesday, and destroyed them.

“He disclosed how he is the mastermind of the entire conspiracy... He is required to unearth the entire conspiracy and the modus operandi,” the public prosecutor told the court. According to police, Jha told them that the accused had met several times to plan the Parliament security breach.

The prosecutor told the court that Jha disclosed that he and his co-conspirators wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they can compel the government to meet their demands. He took the phones of his accomplices to destroy evidence as part of the larger conspiracy while throwing his phone away on the way from Jaipur to Delhi.

Police also plan to confront the accused with each other, to locate their mobile phones, to take Jha to the hotel where stayed for four days, and to know the financial transactions and funding behind the attack, the prosecutor said.

Separately, investigators said they would be investigating whether any foreign country or forces had any link to the incident. They believe that Jha has destroyed the phones of four other accused who are in custody.

Investigators said he had reached Rajasthan and met Mahesh on Wednesday night where the latter and his cousin Kailash allegedly arranged a room for him to stay. On Thursday, they claimed, Jha and Mahesh told Kailash that the former is going to surrender before the police.

Reports said Mahesh was to join the group in the action inside and outside Parliament, but had at last chickened out.

According to police, Jha had posted on Instagram several photos and quotes of legendary revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekar Azad, and Subhas Chandra Bose.