Daood Gilani alias David Coleman Headley, one of two terror suspects arrested by the FBI for allegedly plotting terror attacks in Denmark and India, left no record with the management of the market building in Mumbai in which he had set up a visa facilitation agency.
The agency, which was apparently involved in helping skilled and unskilled people acquire visas to the US and Canada, was in Tardeo’s AC Market. The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has established that Headley rented an apartment in Breach Candy and ran the agency during his city visits from 2007, but no official records exist anywhere to show he had rented the premises.
A ledger records the list of property owners but no list of lessees is maintained, as the property owners prefer not to divulge details of their lease deals. “We maintain a ledger with the names of all people who own properties in the building. The ledger is updated when the owner sells the property. However, there is no record of any owner renting out the property, as they don’t inform us about it,” said S Datta, a manager’s assistant in the building.
Owners have to pay one per cent of the maintenance charges while renting out the premises. “Because of this rule, practically none of the owners has ever bothered to inform us about renting out property,” Datta said.
The Crime Branch says it has tracked down and recorded the statements of several people in the city who had interacted with Headley.
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