In Pune hotel,another Headley calling card

Surya Villa manager Srinivas told The Indian Express that as per rules,the original C-form,along with a copy of Headleys passport page that had his photograph,had been sent to the police commissionerate.

The C-form copy bears his full name and has these details: Headley checked into Surya Villa at 6.15 am on March 16,had a multiple entry B-visa (No: 314473) for India that was issued to him in Chicago on July 18,2007 with validity up to July 17,2012. Headley had written 180 days in response to a query on the duration of stay in India,listing the purpose of visit as tourist.

In the space for date and place of arrival in India,something had been written and then scratched out. The C-form gave Headleys US passport number as 097536400; date of issue 10-03-06,valid up to 09-03-16.

The main register has corroborating entries though the purpose of visit has been stated as business,not tourist. According to the register,Headley checked in on March 16,stayed in Room No. 202 and checked out at 8 am on March 17. He stayed in a single occupancy non-AC room with a tariff of Rs 1,200. His total bill at the time of check-out was Rs 1,240, said Srinivas.

Those running hotels in the area,including Surya Villa,said the Pune police hadnt contacted them yet over Headley.

In Mumbai,investigators were said to have found out that Headley had not sent anyone abroad through the visa facilitation agency he ran in the city.

Headleys agency Immigrant Law Centre functioned out of a leased office in the popular A C Market in south Mumbais Tardeo area between March 2007 and November 2008. It was said to have specialised in helping unskilled and semi-skilled people get US and Canadian visas.

Records of Headleys visa agency have been scrutinised and it has been found that not one person was sent abroad. The agency seems to have been nothing but a front for Headley to stay in the city and carry out other activities. It provided him a legitimate cover while he was here, said a source close to the probe.

A Parsi woman who worked for Headley at the agency has also been questioned by security agencies and cleared of any involvement,sources said.

In New Delhi,Home Ministry officials said there was evidence to suggest that Headley and Rana were in touch with some of the handlers of Ajmal Amir Kasab,the gunman captured in Mumbai during 26/11. Indian investigators were planning to procure voice records of the conversations that took place between Headley-Rana and their handlers in Pakistan. India already has voice samples of those who handled Kasab and the other 26/11 gunmen. Matching the two sets would establish whether the handlers were the same,the officials said.

The Indian government has sought help from the Canada in learning more about Rana who has Canadian citizenship. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today discussed the matter with visiting Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper.

I did mention to Prime Minister Stephen Harper the particular case you have mentioned, Singh said in response to a question on whether the Rana figured during the discussions. We had a fruitful discussion in expanding areas of cooperation in combating the scourge of terrorism, Singh said,declining to comment further.

Responding to the same question,Harper said both of them had discussed the case and resolved to cooperate closely in future exchange of information. He said Canada had worked closely with the US government on the case.

Meanwhile,India handed over its seventh dossier on the 26/11 attack to Pakistan. It was handed to the Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner by the Joint Secretary (Iran,Afghanistan and Pakistan),Ministry of External Affairs. An earlier dossier sent in September had been rejected by Pakistan which claimed it did not contain hard evidence to prosecute Lashkar founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed.

With ENS from New Delhi