New Delhi, November 13: Suspected American terrorist David Headley had stayed in a hotel in the national capital just months before the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
According to the passport details of Headley, he had visited the national capital and Mumbai during April last year. He had then left for Pakistan.
Headley was arrested by the FBI for suspected links with the banned terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which had carried out the Mumbai carnage last year that left about 180 people dead.
Sources said Central security agencies are also investigating Headley’s suspected links to terror outfit Indian Mujhaideen, which had carried out a series of bomb attacks across the country, including in Rajasthan and Delhi, that left over 170 people dead.
Home Minister P Chidambaram had said on Thursday that besides Headley, the National Investigating Agency had registered a case against his Canadian accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana.
The duo was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and for conspiring to wage war against the country.
Maintaining that Headley had visited India several times before 26/11 and once after the Mumbai terror strikes, Chidambaram had said, “We are conducting investigations in the cities he visited to find out whom he met and what he did.”
A top Home Ministry official has claimed that the investigators had enough evidence to show Headley’s link with LeT and the Government is all set to produce the documents before a US court in January next and press for his extradition to India.
“We will press for his extradition to India with the evidence,” the official said.
The investigators were now trying to find out whether Headley and his accomplice Rana, also arrested in the US, were involved in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and whether handlers of the duo and Mumbai attackers were the same.
Meanwhile, noted Bollywood director-producer Mahesh Bhatt on Friday refused to comment on the reported links between his son Rahul and Headley, saying the onus is on the investigating agencies to give an answer on the issue.
“I think the onus is on the national security agencies to answer this pointed question (about Rahul). I feel as a responsible citizen, I should not indulge in a game of trivialising such a serious issue,” Mahesh Bhatt said.
“It is an issue which is very serious. It concerns not only my security and the security of my family but the security of the nation. The agencies are there to answer these queries. It is not right for me to indulge in small talk about matters like these,” he said.
His brother and Bollywood producer, Mukesh said the intelligence agencies have given Rahul a “clean chit” because there is nothing beyond it.
“What I gather is whatever they have spoken, the intelligence people have given him a clean chit absolutely because there is nothing beyond it,” he said.
Asked about reports that Rahul is being questioned by the FBI, Mukesh said, “No, I don’t think so at all, he was not questioned. He went infact and told whatever he knew.
“He just happened to bump into this character (Headley) in a gym just like anybody can bump into anybody and there is nothing beyond that at all.”
E-mails sent by Headley, a US national, to his handlers from terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba had mentioned one ‘Rahul’ and the probe agencies have been investigating who that person was.
–PTI