Sleuths, who are now scouring Kochi for any evidence regarding Headley and Rana, have found that Rana had not used any facilities of the Taj Residency on Marine Drive where he stayed other than lodging.
“He booked his room via Internet through a travel agency. He has not made a phone call from the room or used the restaurant, bar or business centre,” sources said.
Rana went for boating in the sprawling backwaters overlooking the hotel but did not use the hotel’s boating facilities. The police have found that he went for boating using a private service and also visited M G Road. An official of the National Investigating Agency arrived in Kochi on Monday to carry out further probes. Meanwhile, investigating agencies have been tipped off on two Keralites who had contacts with Rana. One of them, an emigration agent, was Shameer who shuttles between Kochi and Saudi Arabia and the other person is a Keralite businessman based in the US. It was on analysing a call that Shameer received on his cell phone from Pakistan that his links with Rana have surfaced. The police here believe that it was Shameer, who is now in Saudi Arabia, arranged for Rana’s stay in Kochi.
Intelligence agencies suspect that Rana’s visit to Kochi as an emigration consultant offering US and Canadian visas might have been a cover for terror activities. He had placed an advertisement in a prominent English daily on November 17, the day he left Kochi for Mumbai.