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

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 MondayThe person Rajaram Rege tried to call the TMC Diamond Harbour MP and his PA after getting their numbers the officer addedThe IPS officer claimed that Rege had met terror prime accused David Coleman Headley earlier apart from othersldquoToday our officers arrested Rajaram Rege from Mumbai He had visited Kolkata stayed here and conducted a recce of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjees offices and residence He obtained the mobile phone numbers of Banerjee and his PA and tried to contact themrdquo the officer saidRege stayed at a hotel in Kolkatas 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 addedTerroristrsquos referenceHeadley had revealed in his deposition during the 2611 attack trial in a Chicago court in 2016 that he had visited Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar during 20062007 where he met Rege whom he identified as the partyrsquos public relations officer Headley a coaccused in the terror attack alongside his old friend Tahawwur Rana a Canadian of Pakistani origin disclosed that he had conducted surveillance of Indiarsquos Bhabha Atomic Research Centre near Mumbai and had also visited the Shiv Sena offices at DadarCurrently 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 PakistaniAmerican terrorist outside Sena Bhavan for only two minutes and firmly rejected his request for access to the buildingAccording to reports Headley informed the court of his interest in cultivating a relationship with a Shiv Sena member because he believed that LashkareTaiba might be inclined to target either the Sena Bhavan or ldquoassassinate its headrdquo a reference to Shiv Sena founder Bal ThackeraySena reactsShiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut did not respond to middayrsquos calls However a Sena leader on the condition of anonymity stated that Rege was never associated in any way with the party ldquoRege 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 Headleyrsquos statement as he was never part of the partyrdquo20062007Period during which Headley met RegeWith agency inputs