Rana, Headley travelled to Kerala

Rana, Headley travelled to Kerala to develop sleeper cells of 313 Brigade
The terror link
By Arun Lakshman in Thiruvananthapuram

Sources in the central agencies confirmed that more than a recce of these vital installations, the deadly duo had clear targets in Kochi and wanted to create sleeper cells, which are actively involved in social projects and which can be immersed in the Kerala society. Popular Front, a new version of the deadly Islamist organisation NDF, has of late been seen actively involved in the social projects conducted by the state government and sources told this correspondent that the central IB knows of the activities conducted by this organisation.

David Coleman Headley or Dawood Gilani and Tahawwur Hussain Rana would have reached Kochi to activate sleeper cells and to create new recruits in the deadly 313 Brigade led by Iliyas Kashmiri, a Pakistan army officer-turned mercenary. Sources in the central intelligence told Organiser that both had been in Kochi with Rana staying in Taj Residency while Headley, aka Gilani, choosing a private accommodation.

Interestingly, the state police and the central agencies like the IB and the NIA are on the heels to get the whereabouts of the dreaded criminal and Islamist CMA Basheer, who is considered to have played a major role in the Mumbai blasts in collusion with gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Basheer, the former national president of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), is on the run since the Mumbai blasts. Unfortunately, state police or other agencies do not have a photograph of the dreaded terrorist and sources in the central Intelligence Bureau told this reporter that he would have been in Kochi in disguise during Rana and Headley’s visit. While the Union Home Secretary Gopalkrishna Pillai has categorically denied the presence of Headley in Kochi, highly-placed sources in the IB told this correspondent that Headley was present in Kerala, Kochi included.

The NIA team, which is in Kochi on the trail of Rana, has found out that he conducted boating in the Arabian Sea along the Kochi coast for thirty minutes and took photographs of vital installations of the country including Cochin Port Trust, Cochin Shipyard and Vallarpadom Container Terminal. NIA in its investigation has found out that Rana did not use the boat of the five-star hotel but went for a private boat. Sources in the central IB told this correspondent that they are now on the trail of boat-providers in Kochi. It may be recalled that there were several cases registered against certain boat-makers of Munambam in Kochi for providing boats to LTTE during their hey days.

It may be recalled that Organiser recently carried out a story on the recent bonhomie between the Maoists and SIMI at the behest of the Chinese and that a secret meeting of top-level leaders of the two outfits was held in Bengaluru and a former Naxalite leader from Kerala was given the charge of the joint operations. Interestingly, the intelligence had much earlier confirmed over the close rapport between the Indian Maoists and SIMI and following the theory of one’s friend is the other’s friend, SIMI became-friends with LTTE and the boat used by Rana could have been provided by an LTTE contact.

Sources in the central agencies also confirmed that more than a recce of these vital installations, the deadly duo had clear targets in Kochi and wanted to create sleeper, cells, which are actively involved in social projects and which can be immersed in the Kerala society. Popular Front, the new version of the deadly Islamist organisation NDF, has of late been seen actively involved in the social projects conducted by the state government and sources told this correspondent that the central IB knows of the activities conducted by this organisation.

The facts that internationally-known terrorists are operating from the state and the state police is in a sleepy mood with the state DGP not clear as to what has happened in the intelligence arena bring the state police in poor light.

However, the police is also probing into the roles played by certain real estate lobbies in Kochi and the surrounding areas and whether they are using the money laundered by terror operatives in the state’s real estate market.