By John Mary
Thiruvananthapuram: Fears that Kerala has been among probable targets for terror strikes has strengthened with the State police confirming that Tahawwur Hussain Rana, suspected to be an associate of LeT terrorist David Coleman Headley, visited Kochi in November last before the Mumbai terror attacks.
Federal Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai confirmed in New Delhi that Rana, and not Headley, had visited Kochi.
Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US last month along with LeT suspect David Coleman Headley for plotting fresh terror attacks in India.
“A man named Tahawwur Hussain Rana had stayed in a hotel in Kochi on November 16”, said Kerala Director General of Police Jacob Punnose in Kochi today.
Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also confirmed the police finding but said inquiries were still on with the Federal investigating agencies to verify “if this Rana was the same Rana who now under arrest in the US”.
Rana visited Kochi under the cover of a “talent spotting” mission, along with wife Samraz Akhtar. The couple stayed at Taj Residency (since renamed Gateway) Hotel from the evening of November 16 till the next noon. From Kochi, the couple took off for Mumbai, according to sources.
Police were following up on telephone numbers Rana accessed during his visit.
Senior officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are expected to arrive here soon to probe Rana’s visit in detail.
Rana had put an advertisement in an English newspaper, proffering US and Canadian visas to prospective migrants and job-seekers.
Sources said Rana’s Chicago-based immigration consultancy firm — First World Immigration services — could be a cover front for his forays into Indian cities to recruit LeT sleeper cells.
His newspaper ad on November 17 offered the visas on a “limited time money back guarantee”, announcing “world famous immigration consultant Dr Rana from Chicago”. His itinerary was Delhi November 14 and 15, Kochi November 16 and 17, Ahmedabad November 18 and 19 and Mumbai November 20.
The advertisement was through Mumbai-based Prachar Agency and the e-mail id was immigration@ameritech.net
An agency report said the US prosecutors have sought a 58-day extension from November 19 to file an indictment against Tahawwur Rana, saying the FBI needed more time to examine fresh evidence against him unearthed in recent raids.
The FBI also submitted a fresh set of evidence against Rana in a sealed envelope and requested the Chicago court not to unseal it. A motion in this regard seeking time till January 14 to file the indictment against Rana was moved on Friday by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald before Chief Judge James F. Holderman in the US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, the agency reported.
