'Headley, Rana's visa papers not missing'

The Indian Consulate in Chicago said the papers related to issuance of visas to terror suspects David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana had not gone missing and the 'relevant information' in this regard is available with the Indian government.

"We have not reported loss of any papers regarding issuance of visa to David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana. Relevant information concerning the issuance of visa to these persons is available with the government of India," a senior consulate official told PTI in Chicago.

The official's remarks comes in the wake of reports surfaced in the media that papers on the basis of which Headley and Rana were issued visas by the Consulate may have gone mysteriously missing.

Commenting on the report, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Wednesday said in New Delhi that she had asked for a 'factual report' from Chicago's Consulate General on the issue. Pakistani-origin US national Headley and Pakistani-Canadian Rana had travelled to India on multi-entry visas issued by the Indian mission.

Headley and Rana, both arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October for plotting terror attacks in India and Denmark, travelled to this country on multi-entry visas issued by the Indian mission.

The visas to the duo were issued at the discretion of the Consul General in Chicago. While Headley was issued a five-year multi-entry business visa in July 2007, Rana was given a one-year business visa, valid up to March 2011, and both were also exempted from police reporting if their stay was less than 180 days at a single stretch.

Headley has been charged with criminal conspiring in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks which claimed 166 lives. Rana, who has also been denied bail, faces charges that he provided support to Headley in plotting attacks against a Danish newspaper.