Mahesh Bhatt's scion isn't 'Rahul' in Headley's e-mail exchanges
Mahesh Bhatt, eminent Bollywood filmmaker, is in trouble these days and it is owing to his son Rahul Bhatt. The young man has already been questioned by the Mumbai police regarding his supposed contact with David Coleman Headley. I am sure that you are acquainted with the name of this person by now. David Coleman Headley is a Pakistan-born US national, is in FBI custody as a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) suspect and is, at the moment, focal point for press and media.
What is the basis of his relation with Rahul then? Well, Rahul is a fitness instructor and perhaps, for that reason, was having a close affinity with the culpable guy. Nevertheless Rahul was granted exemption for the reason that he was oblivious of Headley's terror links. But as per highly placed sources, during interrogation Rahul did make a clean breast that he had known Headley and helped him rent a flat near Breach Candy Hospital. Was this really an idiocy? It is not known yet but sources state that he was ignorant of Headley's actual backdrop and took him to be a foreign national in India on a job.
Now the question is what made police nab Rahul. To cut a long story short, there were, in fact, hordes of references to "Rahul" in Headley's e-mail exchanges with his Pakistani handlers that did bemuse the security establishment to a great extent. It is worthwhile to mention, as per the report of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the US federal law enforcement agency that is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Justice, Headley did activate a visa agency in Mumbai for about two years until July 2008 and had also made frequent travels to India on business visas nine times between 2006 and 2009.
Investigators, at the outset, feared that the 'Rahul' reference was to Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi but Home Minister P Chidambaram denied this on time. There was even conjecture that it could be a code name for Shah Rukh Khan, who has played characters named Rahul in several films.
Last but not least, Headley and his alleged co-conspirator Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, are being held on charges of plotting attacks in India at the command of Lashkar.
