Lalit Jha, believed to be the key conspirator of the parliament security breach, is still on the run even as the Delhi Police have launched a massive manhunt to nab him. Five persons have already been arrested in the case and are being interrogated by the investigators.
Though police have not yet divulged much details about Jha, reports claimed that he was last seen in Neemrana on the Rajasthan-Haryana border.
It was on Jha’s instruction that December 13 was fixed to carry out the smoke scare; the date assumes significance as it was the 22nd anniversary of the deadly 2001 parliament terror attack.
According to reports, Jha is a resident of Kolkata and a teacher by profession. Influenced by revolutionary Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Jha and others were highly motivated to commit an act which could draw the country's attention to them.
In a major security breach on Wednesday, two persons, identified as Sagar Sharma and D. Manoranjan, jumped into the chamber of Lok Sabha from the public gallery during Zero Hour and released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs and security personnel.
Around the same time, two persons, identified as Neelam Devi and Amol Shinde, also sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans 'tanashahi nahi chalegi' outside the parliament premises.
Police arrested all the four and later detained another man named Vicky Sharma at whose house in Gurugram the gang allegedly met on December 10 and planned the attack.
According to the investigators, Jha, Sagar Sharma, and Maoranjan had met about a year ago in Mysore where they made a plan to barge into the parliament. They later added Neelam and Amol into the plan.
Jha filmed the smoke scare outside the parliament on his mobile phone and uploaded it on his Instagram page. He also allegedly shared the video with the founder of a Kolkata-based NGO apparently to ensure media coverage.
