Rana visited Agra, Meerut for terror recce?

New Delhi, Nov 27 : Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Tahawwur Rana, who was arrested along with David Headley by the FBI last month for allegedly plotting terror attacks in Denmark and India, had reportedly visited Meerut and Agra in November 2008 for 'terror recce', said Times Now on Friday.

The news channel claims that Rana and his wife Samraz Akhtar had stayed with their realative in Meerut and Hapur near Delhi last year.

“First Rana visited Samraz’s aunt Suraiya Bano’s house in Meerut on Nov 13 and then they went to another aunt Farzana Parvez’s house in Hapur. From there the couple went to Agra accompanied by Farzana and her daughter,” the channel said.

However, Rana’s relatives said they did not know that he was a terrorist and came to India to survey terror targets.

Admitting Rana’s visit to her house, Farzana said: “I know Rana ran an immigration business. He had placed ads in some English newspapers."

Another relative called Faisal said: "Their son-in-law belonged to a very well-established family and was a qualified army doctor, who rose to the rank of a colonel in the Pakistani Army at Bahawalpur in Pakistan's Punjab soem sixteen years ago."


Rana stayed at Viren International Hotel and went to see the Taj Mahal on Nov 15.

The same eve he went back to Delhi and on Nov 16 flew to Kochi with Samraz, the channel said on the basis of the information received from Rana’s relatives.