Bengal teacher who took video of associates held after 36 hrs

A day after a brazen security breach in Parliament sent shockwaves, investigators late on Thursday arrested Lalit Jha, one of the key conspirators of the attack, who gave police the slip for more than 36 hours.

- Hemani Bhandari and Joydeep Thakur

Investigations so far have revealed that the 35-year-old teacher lived in a small house in north Kolkata till at least a year and a half ago, though it is unclear if he continued to reside there after that. He was also associated with Samyabadi Subhas Sabha, an NGO that claims to be "carrying forward the legacy of Netaji", according to its Instagram page.

Jha stood outside Parliament and recorded videos of his associates Neelam Singh (37) and Amol Shinde (24) as they set off canisters of yellow smoke just beyond the walls of the high-security compound and shouted slogans.

And even as they were arrested, along with the two men who jumped into Lok Sabha and sprayed yellow smoke through the chambers, Jha managed to flee amid the melee, and remained under the radar.