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Deported Indian unaware of Headley terror links

MUMBAI: Documents allegedly found to be false led to the U.S. authorities deporting an Indian (name withheld), who used the services of Mumbai-based immigration offices of terror suspects David Headley and Tahawwur Rana.

The person arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi well past midnight on Wednesday night, airport sources said on Thursday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had informed the Indian authorities about the detention of the person after Headley reportedly told them about his clients, the sources said.

The man’s statement was recorded by officials in the national capital after which he was let off and allowed to travel back to his native place in Gujarat as he did not have links either with any terror organisation or with the suspicious activities of Headley and Rana.

The person, who appeared to be unaware of Headley’s alleged terror connection, told the investigators that he had paid huge sums of money to immigrate to the U.S. from Canada, the sources said. He said U.S. authorities had detained him for allegedly entering that country on false documents.

The deportation comes barely days ahead of the arrival of an FBI team to India during which they would share the details of further interrogation of Headley, whose court hearing in Chicago has been deferred indefinitely at the instance of the FBI.

Headley, arrested by the FBI on terror charges in October, ran a visa facilitation agency named Immigrant Law Centre from the AC Market in Tardeo, Mumbai, between November 2006 and July 2008 before winding up his business. The firm was helping people especially unskilled workers to get visas for the U.S. and Canada. Rana, whose consul has claimed in a Chicago court that he was innocent, is also alleged to be a part of this agency. — PTI

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