PMO assures Bhatt of inquiry on 'leaks'

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office has assured film-maker Mahesh Bhatt that the Home Ministry will inquire into the "leak" of information relating to his son having known David Headley, a US terror suspect arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for plotting strikes in India. An agitated Bhatt had written a letter to Singh on November 15 in which the film-maker said he felt a sense of "great betrayal" over the manner in which his son was handled by investigators despite sharing information about the US terror suspect Headley.

"The Home Minister (P Chidambaram) has been asked to look into the matter," Jaideep Sarkar, private secretary to the Prime Minister, conveyed in a written communication to Bhatt while acknowledging receipt of his letter. Sitting in his office-cum-residence, Bhatt says that his son had done a duty that every citizen should do but voiced his displeasure over some reports which had projected his son in a bad light. "The result is that my movie was taken off from cinema halls in neighbouring Gujarat causing a heavy financial loss to me. But still this does not prevent me from contributing towards India's fight on terror," Bhatt told PTI in Mumbai on Monday.

In the letter, Bhatt had expressed his "deep anguish" over the manner in which the investigations into his son Rahul's relation with Headley were handled. The filmmaker said his family had to woke up to a sense of great betrayal and irreversible damage as investigative agencies leaked selective information to media projecting his son in a "wrong way". He alleged that the information was exploited by right wing forces in Gujarat to stop screening of his movie Tum Mile in the state. Bhatt said he had not asked for any security but reported to Mumbai police about the level of threat he, his office and his movie faced.