In a sleepy interior street of Saligramam, an entire neighbourhood is in shock after the arrest of Arun Selvarajan, the suspected ISI operative of Sri Lankan Tamil origin, alleged to have been part of an elaborate conspiracy to stage an attack in India. Selvarajan’s neighbours at the Candle Nest apartment are yet to come to terms with the news that the calm, young boy next door was a person put under surveillance by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

In the two years that he has been residing there, the 28-year-old hardly interacted with his neighbours. He was almost always seen alone, and never brought home friends. He lived in a single room flat meant to be used as a small office space, with a small kitchen and bathroom. He never failed to pay monthly maintenance charges, according to Residents’ Welfare Association members. “We have never seen him going out of his way to interact with anyone. He was seen only while leaving the flat or returning,” said a neighbour. The one place that Selvarajan frequented was a modest tiffin centre around the corner. There he always ordered take-away and waited patiently while it got ready, added local residents.

“Yesterday, he was brought to the flat (by NIA officers) around 11 am and taken away after a couple of hours while we stood and watched in shock and disbelief. It was sad to see him being hauled away,” said an elderly flat owner.

Selvarajan did not own a vehicle and travelled in auto-rickshaws. Those from the neighbourhood said he always paid the autowallahs handsomely, often more than the tariff sought by the driver himself. However, the drivers at the nearest auto-rickshaw stand denied knowing him. Members of the local Residents’ Welfare Association said they regularly submitted tenant details to the Virugambakkam police station. “About six months ago the association submitted 100 applications to the police. But this flat was left out as they have their own maintenance in-charge. So this person was missed out from the list,” a member said. (TNIE)