Govt to probe how terror suspect Rana got his visa

With reports suggesting that Indian Consul General in Chicago had granted visas to terror suspect Tahawwur Rana without Home Ministry's clearance, the central government on Tuesday said the security lapse would be "looked into very carefully".

"All these issues are going to be looked into very carefully from the point of view of security angle and perhaps in the days to come, you might see more on this," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI event in New Delhi.

The minister was replying to a query if the government was planning to probe the security lapse in view of granting of visa to David Headley and Tahawwur Rana by the Indian Consul General in Chicago and Rana's visit to various Indian cities.

Copies of visas issued to Pakistani-Canadian Rana and a woman Samraz Rana Akhthar, who he claimed to be his wife, show that both were issued multiple entry visas under the discretion of the Consul General.

This was done in apparent violation of rules under which clearance of Ministry of Home Affairs is required for any person born in Pakistan.

Both Rana and the woman with him are born in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

Rana is an associate of a US citizen David Headley, who has also been arrested on terror charges by the FBI last month for their connections with terror group Lashker-e-Tayiba.

Asked about the Pakistani spy apprehended by security agencies at the international airport here, Krishna said, "What follows from that (arrest) depends upon various processes that are due to take place."

Mohd Sayeed Ali, a Pakistani national, was arrested on Saturday when he was trying to board a flight to Saudi Arabia using a fake passport.