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ShareAhmedabad, Ahmedabad: Is Surat's diamond industry funding terror mastermind David Headley, who is believed to be linked to 26/11 and other terrorist incidents in the country? This is exactly what an sms, doing rounds of Surat from Thursday morning, claimed.
The sms claimed Headley's links with Surat had been unearthed, and that a large sum of money from the city was transferred to a foreign bank. The message also claimed that the diamond cutting & polishing industry of Surat was under the scanner of investigators for these alleged links and transactions.
The sms was the only topic of discussion in diamond circles in Surat during the day. "David Headley's Surat connection unearthed. Rs64 crore were transferred to Bank of New Zealand from Surat. Diamond industry under scanner," states the sms.
While the diamond industry has always rubbished such reports and maintained innocence, the sms assumes significance, especially in wake of reports that besides Ahmedabad, Headley had also visited Surat and other cities in the state last year.Chandrakant Sanghavi, regional chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, rubbished the content of the sms saying the Surat diamond industry is very clean, and does not fund any terrorist activity.
Rohit Mehta, president of Surat Diamond Association, said: "The sms should not be taken seriously. We should avoid making it an unnecessary issue. And, even if there is any amount of truth in the sms, we are sure the investigating agencies will reach to its bottom."
In July last year, this newspaper had reported that Surat diamond industry was under scanner of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of union finance ministry after some suspicious deals came to its light. There were suspicions that terrorist organisations had invested in diamond market.
