New Delhi, November 17: It turns out that the Indian Consulate in Chicago had violated the rules to issue the visas to Tahawwur Rana and his wife.
Both the Pakistani-Canadian Rana and his wife Samraz were given multiple entry visas. But neither of the visas were cleared by the Ministry of Home Affairs. MHA clearance is compulsory for visas to any Pakistani born person.
In fact, Rana and his wife were exempted even from registering with the police if their stay in India did not exceed 180 days.
Rana was issued a year-long business visa while Samraz came to India on a tourist visa that is valid for five years.
Meanwhile, the probe against American terror suspects David Headley and Rana has found the duo were in Pakistan when Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists had attacked Mumbai on November 26 last year killing more than 180 people.
Investigators, probing the terror links on Headley and Rana have found that both the suspects were moving freely in Pakistan, from where the Mumbai attackers had come and unleashed bloodbath in the metropolis for four days, senior Home Ministry official said.
He said India has approached Canada to get more information abour Rana, a Candaian citizen of Pakistani origin. “We are liasoning with Canada government,” he said adding Rana was the “money bag” of the two.
More than 20 teams of sleuths of National Investigation Agency, a prosecuting agency established in the aftermath of 26/11, have been entrusted to probe Headley-Rana trail and central security agencies have been formed for gathering information about the places the duo had visited between 2006 and 2009.
Apart from staying in five star hotels in places like Mumbai, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, Headley and Rana had also stayed with some “private parties” who were being questioned by security agencies.
–PTI