A 20-year-old from Navi Mumbai has been arrested for allegedly carrying out a detailed reconnaissance of the Chabad House in Colaba and several other places which are sensitive in the context of the Jewish community and foreign nationals. This was allegedly at the instructions of overseas handlers linked to criminal syndicates and anti-national elements.
The Maharashtra ATS first picked up Yash Singh of Airoli based on intelligence which indicated that he had social media contacts with suspected anti-national handlers. A team from Kerala Police formally took him into custody at Thrissur East police station in the UAPA case. It was established that Singh had been in direct contact (mainly via Telegram) with people linked to one of the accused in the Thrissur case.
During the course of interrogation, Singh allegedly said that the social media handlers of the mafia-linked and subversive networks had given him the job of photographing and mapping out locations in South Mumbai (specifically the Colaba area). The brief was to provide precise coordinates and photographs of the Chabad House (Nariman House), Jewish-owned businesses, areas where Jews and foreign nationals would be, vehicles, and all surrounding sensitive spots. He was paid for this information. The instructions and the material were passed via Telegram, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The arrest timing is very significant, as it was just days before the 18th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. That was a coordinated attack by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives based in Pakistan. Two of the terrorists took over Nariman House, took hostages and killed several people (including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka). It was a multi-site attack, with the other sites being the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the Oberoi-Trident and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The death toll was around 166-175, and hundreds were injured. The Chabad House is of course still a potent symbol of that attack and continues to be under intense security scrutiny.
Investigators have traced the handlers back to wider networks, including the Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti network, which the Union government has recently declared a terrorist organisation under the UAPA. These networks are known to target unemployed or otherwise financially vulnerable youth online, offering them money to carry out reconnaissance and other activities which are, in fact, acts of sabotage against security. This development comes at a time when tensions in West Asia (involving Israel) are at a high point, and there are fears of threats to Jewish and Israeli-related sites in India.
The ATS has been warning the public, especially parents and young people, not to share photos or location details of sensitive sites with unknown social media contacts or to accept payment to do so. They are currently looking into the wider network and any other associates.