Terror suspects, David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana and the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack had the same handlers in Pakistan. This is yet another pointer to links the between the duo and the Mumbai attack. <br/>Investigators have indicated that Headley and Rana were part of a larger conspiracy behind 26/11. According to government source, evidence shows that Headley and Rana were in touch with the same people who were giving directions to Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in Mumbai attack and other terrorists. Investigating agencies have asked the FBI, which arrested the two for plotting terror attack in the US for the voice sample of Headley and Rana so that it could be compared with the samples available in India. <br/>The source said that there is no proof of Pakistan Consulate in Mumbai handing over a satellite telephone to Headley. Sources also said filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's son Rahul was not a terror suspect but efforts were on to ascertain if he had unwittingly helped Headley. Headley and Rana were in Pakistan during the 26/11 and left Pakistan soon after the terror attack.<br/>The National Investigation Agency, NIA, is in the meantime scrutinising the documents and other details collected by the Mumbai crime branch during its local pobe on the Mumbai links of Headley. Headley who had come on a business visa to India, ran an immigration business in Mumbai. <br/>The NIA officials are likely to question Kasab in this connection. The investigations have revealed that Headley had visited Pune twice before and after Mumbai terror attacks and stayed in Osho Ashram. In the capital, the Delhi police have identified two cyber cafes visited by Headley during his three day stay in Delhi this year. More than 20 teams of NIA are probing Headley-Rana trail in India. The duo had visited India between 2006-2009.<br/>Meanwhile, the government has said that it is looking into the reports suggesting that Indian Consul General in Chicago had granted visa to Headley and Rana without Home Ministry's clearance. External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna told reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi today that all these issues will be looked into very carefully from the security angle.<br/>AIR correspondent Narendra Kumar reports from Mumbai that Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil today said that National Investigation Agency, NIA, has not approached the state Government so far to question the 26/11 terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab on his possible links with alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives David Headley and Tahawwur Rana. However, he said that the state administration would extend all cooperation to the country's top agency to probe the role of Headley and Rana in the Mumbai terror attacks. The crime branch sources said that the NIA is also yet to approach the anti-terror court hearing the 26/11 case to question Kasab, who is lodged in a special cell in Arthur Road Central Jail.<br/>
News On AIR | November 17, 2009 8:42 PM
Headley, Rana & Mumbai attackers had common handlers in Pakistan