The Colaba building recced by the arrested 20-year-old once housed the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish centre, which had been one of the key targets in the 26/11 attacks that killed 166 and injured 300.

The Colaba building recced by the arrested 20-year-old once housed the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish centre, which had been one of the key targets in the 26/11 attacks that killed 166 and injured 300.

The Colaba building recced by the arrested 20-year-old once housed the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish centre, which had been one of the key targets in the 26/11 attacks that killed 166 and injured 300.

A 20-year-old youth was arrested in Navi Mumbai on Saturday for allegedly conducting reconnaisance on a 26/11 terror target—Nariman House (also known as Chabad House) in Colaba—among other sensitive places, just a week before the anniversary of the 2008 tragedy.

The Colaba building, which houses the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish centre, had been one of the key targets in the attacks on November 26, 2008, that killed 166 and injured 300. Among those killed from here were the centre's Rabbi, Gavriel Holtzberg, his pregnant wife, Rivka, a number of other Jewish foreigners, and Indian security personnel.

Apart from the Jewish religious centre, which had been a target of the 2008 terror attack, police said that the man, identified as Yash Singh, had also collected photographs, vehicle information and other precise location details about Jewish citizens, foreign nationals, and their businesses, an NDTV report said.

The police said that his recce operations were based on instructions from his contacts—suspected to be anti-national elements like the Shahzad Bhatti network—with whom he shared the material via Telegram, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

They added that he had received money for these activities, as is the case with crime syndicates known to recruit unemployed and financially distressed people for such activities.

Why is Singh in Thrissur now?

After the man from Navi Mumbia's Airoli area was arrested by the Navi Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) based on inputs about his alleged links with an international crime syndicate, Kerala Police was brought into the loop.

This widened the scope of the case, as it was found that Singh's activities were also linked to one of the accused in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case registered at the Thrissur East Police Station.

Details of the Thrissur UAPA case, to which Singh was linked, were not immediately clear.

In any case, the ATS inputs led to a Kerala Police team arriving to Navi Mumbai, which formally arrested Singh after confirming his alleged link to the Thrissur UAPA case.

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