Thiruvanathapuram: Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was arrested with suspected LeT terrorist David Coleman Headley, had visited Kochi in November last year before the Mumbai terror strikes, Kerala police said.
"A man named Tahawwur Hussain Rana had stayed in a hotel in Kochi on November 16," state Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose told reporters here.
Kerala police had not received any official communication on the matter from Central investigating agencies, but was collecting information and verifying it, Punnose said.
According to sources, the hotel records showed Rana checked in at a five-star hotel in Kochi on November 16 and left for Mumbai the next day.
Police and intelligence agencies were investigating whether the purpose of Rana's visit was for recruiting youth for militant activities, the sources said.
The sources said there was no evidence now about reports that Headley might also have visited Kerala.
Officials of IB and RAW visited the US last week and met FBI counterparts to get details of the plot but had failed to question Headley, who is lodged in a Chicago jail.
Headley, 49-year-old Pakistan-born US citizen, was arrested in Chicago last month by the FBI which said he was part of an LeT plan to carry out terror attacks in India, including Delhi's National Defence College, Dehradun's Doon School and Woodstock in Mussoorie.
Along with Headley, Canadian-born Tahawwur Hussain Rana was also arrested.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, November 15, 2009, 14:47