Ever since the David Coleman Headley case cropped up, police and security establishment officials are trying to find out whether there are many more US citizens of Pakistani origin with suspected links to terror outfits in the city. Headley is presently under arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US.
Police believe that during his stay in Mumbai, Headley was in touch with local sleeper modules of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the city. "The records gathered about the Immigrant Law Centre, an agency opened by David Headley, shows that nobody was sent out of the country," a senior police official claimed.
Headley, a Pakistan-born US citizen and one of two persons arrested by the FBI, ran a visa facilitation agency in Mumbai from November 2006 to July 2008. The firm was run from Tardeo’s AC Market.
"The office was used as a front by Headley to stay in Mumbai. The statements taken from the staff indicate that they were not aware of Headley's malafide intentions," the official said, adding that no one had been given a clean chit in the case. "Although, no direct or indirect link between Headley and the 26/11 case has been established yet, it is believed that Headley was was in touch with his local contacts, which could well be LeT sleeper modules," the official said.
On Saturday, National Investigating Agency (NIA) officials conducted searches at several locations in Mumbai, at places Headley had stayed in or visited, police said.
Senior police officials say the Headley case gives them an opportunity to identify the loopholes that a person, particular a foreigner, can use to stay in the city. "Headley came to India on a business visa and stayed in the country for a long period. It is worth noticing how a foreigner is able to get a room on rent, start an immigration office and place advertisements in leading newspapers in the city. All these aspects are being studied by the security officials in order to ensure that nobody could get such easy access to these things in the city in future," the official said.
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