New Delhi: The alleged mastermind of the December 13 Parliament terror attack, Lalit Jha, is likely to be taken to Kolkata for further investigation, Delhi Police sources said.

Officials are hopeful that Lalit Jha’s Bengal connection will be a major breakthrough in the case.

According to sources, Lalit Jha, who reportedly lived for 25 years in Kolkata and was in the West Bengal capital just two days before the attack, sent the videos he filmed outside the Parliament building to his associates in Kolkata. 

As chaos unfolded inside the House, with Sagar and Manoranjan jumping into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during the Zero Hour while Neelam and Amol released coloured smoke outside the Parliament, Lalit Jha reportedly filmed the entire horror unfold in his cell phone.

NGO connection

During probe, it was revealed that Lalit Jha operates NGOs in West Bengal and was part of an organisation called SSS. Police are looking into the angle whether the organisation was involved in the December 13 conspiracy. 

War of words between BJP, TMC over Lalit Jha

Earlier, a war of words had broken out between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress after the arrest of Lalit Mohan Jha, the fifth accused in the Parliament security breach incident, over a photo that featured Jha with TMC MLA Tapas Roy.

The Kolkata connection of Lalit Jha sparked a political debate in the state, with West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar accusing Tapas Roy of being in "convenience" with Jha. Majumdar shared two photographs of Roy with Jha on X.

He said, “Lalit Jha, the mastermind of the attack on our Temple of Democracy, had been in close association with TMC's Tapas Roy for a long time... Isn't this proof enough for an investigation into the connivance of the leader?”