Pics of 26/11 site Chabad House found on Pune terror suspects’ device: ATS

The Maharashtra ATS has said it found images of Chabad House, one of the 26/11 terror attack sites, from the electronic devices of the two terror suspects arrested earlier this month in Pune.

The agency has also recovered an electronic circuit used to make explosives from the rented flat of the terror suspects in Pune’s Kondhwa area along with 500-GB data from the devices, a senior ATS official said on Sunday (July 30).

Nariman House (renamed Chabad House), was under siege during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistani terrorists killed rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka Holtzberg besides four visitors. The rabbi’s two-year-old son, Moshe, survived after being rescued by his nanny, Sandra Samuel.

“We have found some images of Chabad House in Mumbai from the electronic devices of the two terror suspects. Besides, screenshots of Google map locations from various districts have also been recovered,” the senior ATS official said in response to a query by reporters.

Following that, Mumbai Police on Sunday beefed up security outside the Jewish centre in Colaba, reported news agency ANI.

Also read: 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana petitions US court against extradition to India

Drone cameras recovered

Mohammad Imran Mohammad Yunus Khan (23) and Mohammad Yunus Mohammad Yakub Saki (24), wanted by the National Investigation Agency for their alleged involvement in a terror-related case in Rajasthan, were nabbed from Kothrud area in Pune on July 18.

The state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) later took over the probe from Pune police.

The ATS official further said, “We have found a drone camera in the house of the two terror suspects and recovered an electronic circuit used to make explosives. What exactly they were planning to do is not clear yet. We have recovered nearly 500 GB data from their devices. This data has been sent to the forensic department.”

The terror suspects used the drone for shooting (videos/images), but it is not yet clear which location they captured using it, he said. “Which locations they shot using the drone will be clear only after the forensic report. We have not received the drone footage as it has been sent for forensic analysis,” the official added.

Lived in tent

The police earlier said they had recovered a tent from the duo. When asked about it, the ATS official said, “The two suspects avoided living in hotels whenever they went to conduct recce, as they used the tent. They had visited many places in the state.”

He added, “The accused are hardcore terrorists…They were influenced by watching the videos of some individuals and reading books…They have been trying to evade many questions (during their questioning).”

A third person who managed to escape at the time of the duo’s arrest is also a hardcore terrorist, he said. Multiple teams have been deployed to nab him, he added.

Days after the arrest of the two suspects, the ATS on Wednesday arrested a man named Abdul Qadir Dastgir Pathan in Pune for providing shelter to the duo. They have also arrested a man from Ratnagiri district for providing financial aid to them. All of them have been remanded in ATS custody till August 5.

Also read: UN dedicates ‘solidarity tree’ to terror victims; 26/11 survivor recounts horror

Carried bounty of Rs 5 lakh each

The two arrested terror suspects (Khan and Saki) hail from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and are graphic designers. Both carried a bounty of Rs 5 lakh each, police said.

They fled Ratlam after learning that their names had cropped up in an investigation into a terror case in which some suspected members of the Al-Sufa outfit were apprehended by the Rajasthan Police from the MP town, they said.

They reached Mumbai, where they stayed in the Bhendi Bazaar area for two to three days and then came to Pune’s Kondhwa area. The duo took up jobs with the help of a local resident, sources said earlier.

They befriended a third person, a resident of Jharkhand, who managed to escape when the police nabbed the duo, they said.

In Kondhwa, the two happened to meet Qadir and told him that they had come to Pune in search of jobs as their financial condition was weak, the sources added. Qadir, who was involved in graphic designing work, provided them with jobs and sublet the place he had taken on rent, they said.

(With agency inputs)