Mumbai man held after conducting recce near TMC leader’s house, offices in Kolkata

American terrorist David Coleman Headley who met Rajaram Rege (left) Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress MP

The Kolkata Police Special Task Force and the detective department arrested a person from Mumbai for purportedly conducting recce around the residence and offices of Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, an official said on Monday.

The person, Rajaram Rege, tried to call the TMC Diamond Harbour MP and his PA after getting their numbers, the officer added.

The IPS officer claimed that Rege had met terror prime accused David Coleman Headley earlier, apart from others.

"Today our officers arrested Rajaram Rege from Mumbai. He had visited Kolkata, stayed here, and conducted a recce of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's offices and residence. He obtained the mobile phone numbers of Banerjee and his PA and tried to contact them," the officer said.

Rege stayed at a hotel in Kolkata's Shakespeare Sarani area before returning to Mumbai. He faces charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation, the officer added.

Terrorist's reference

Headley had revealed in his deposition during the 26/11 attack trial in a Chicago court in 2016 that he had visited Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar during 2006-2007, where he met Rege, whom he identified as the party's public relations officer. Headley, a co-accused in the terror attack alongside his old friend Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian of Pakistani origin, disclosed that he had conducted surveillance of India's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre near Mumbai and had also visited the Shiv Sena offices at Dadar.

Currently incarcerated and having confessed to his involvement in planning the attack, Headley caused a stir by implicating Rege before Judge Harry D Leinenweber overseeing the trial in the Chicago court. In contrast, Rege, testifying in the special court, stated that he briefly encountered the Pakistani-American terrorist outside Sena Bhavan for only two minutes and firmly rejected his request for access to the building.

According to reports, Headley informed the court of his interest in cultivating a relationship with a Shiv Sena member because he believed that Lashkar-e-Taiba might be inclined to target either the Sena Bhavan or "assassinate its head", a reference to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

Sena reacts

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut did not respond to mid-day's calls. However, a Sena leader, on the condition of anonymity, stated that Rege was never associated in any way with the party. "Rege claimed to be a public relations officer to gain access to the Shiv Sena headquarters, but the party has no such designation or post. Neither had any reporter or the Sena rank and file heard of this man before Headley's statement as he was never part of the party."

2006-2007
Period during which Headley met Rege

With agency inputs