08-20-2008, 01:19 AM
On the Haywood escape..
Pioneer, 19 August 2008
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
Wanted American flees India
It is astonishing that Mr Ken Haywood, an American national and alleged executive of a 'multi-national corporation' whose laptop's Internet Protocol was used by the 'Indian Mujahideen' to send an e-mail minutes before the devastating serial bombing in Ahmedabad on July 26, should have quietly slipped out of the country on Sunday night / Monday morning. He was being investigated by the Mumbai Police and had undergone several rounds of questioning; the American was needed for further interrogation because he could have provided crucial details about the bombers and their links. Strangely, Mr Haywood was neither placed under surveillance, which would be considered mandatory given the nature of the case, nor was his passport impounded. The Mumbai Police claims it had alerted immigration officials at all airports and the Foreigners' Registration Office to prevent him from leaving the country. Yet, Mr Haywood, accompanied by his wife and children, had no problems taking a flight to Delhi from where he took another flight to the US. <b>So what went wrong? There are three possibilities. First, as usual, the Mumbai Police, which has not exactly covered itself with glory after the commuter train bombings and the Malegaon explosions, made a mess of things and did not consider it necessary to prevent Mr Haywood's thief-like escape in the dead of night. Second, immigration officials at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport did not carry out a proper check of Mr Haywood's passport: If an alert was indeed issued, as is being claimed by Mumbai Police, then the computer system would have reflected it, provided his passport details were fed into the system. Third, Mr Haywood's departure was facilitated by an understanding reached between the US Embassy and the Government of India. While this will never be confirmed by either American or Indian officials, given the master-slave relationship between the US and the UPA Government, it cannot be ruled out.</b> For, it is unlikely that this Government will have the gumption to ignore an instruction received from Washington, DC, via the American Embassy in Chanakyapuri.
This is not to suggest that Mr Haywood is guilty of having committed any crime. For all we know, he may have been entirely innocent and had no clue about his computer's Internet Protocol address having been hijacked by terrorists. But, in the absence of conclusive evidence to this effect, neither can he be given a clean chit or the benefit of doubt. Indeed, there is no reason to treat him any differently from those believed to have had a role in planning and carrying out the July 26 bombings or the earlier terrorist attack in Jaipur. The law cannot, indeed, it must not, distinguish between Americans and non-Americans, in this case Indians. <b>By letting Mr Haywood flee India, authorities have committed a serious security breach and they cannot be allowed to escape accountability. If they acted according to political instructions, then those who intervened on Mr Haywood's behalf must be exposed. It may not be entirely coincidental that foreigners wanted in connection with crimes against the nation have managed to escape whenever the Congress has been in power at the Centre. Recall the ease with which a wanted Italian, Ottavio Quattrocchi, fled India. </b>This time it is an American who has done the vanishing trick. :ouch:
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I think it could because of intelligence matters like Rabinder Singh. The fact that Embassy was talking to Intell officials could mean that.
Pioneer, 19 August 2008
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Thief-like escape
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Wanted American flees India
It is astonishing that Mr Ken Haywood, an American national and alleged executive of a 'multi-national corporation' whose laptop's Internet Protocol was used by the 'Indian Mujahideen' to send an e-mail minutes before the devastating serial bombing in Ahmedabad on July 26, should have quietly slipped out of the country on Sunday night / Monday morning. He was being investigated by the Mumbai Police and had undergone several rounds of questioning; the American was needed for further interrogation because he could have provided crucial details about the bombers and their links. Strangely, Mr Haywood was neither placed under surveillance, which would be considered mandatory given the nature of the case, nor was his passport impounded. The Mumbai Police claims it had alerted immigration officials at all airports and the Foreigners' Registration Office to prevent him from leaving the country. Yet, Mr Haywood, accompanied by his wife and children, had no problems taking a flight to Delhi from where he took another flight to the US. <b>So what went wrong? There are three possibilities. First, as usual, the Mumbai Police, which has not exactly covered itself with glory after the commuter train bombings and the Malegaon explosions, made a mess of things and did not consider it necessary to prevent Mr Haywood's thief-like escape in the dead of night. Second, immigration officials at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport did not carry out a proper check of Mr Haywood's passport: If an alert was indeed issued, as is being claimed by Mumbai Police, then the computer system would have reflected it, provided his passport details were fed into the system. Third, Mr Haywood's departure was facilitated by an understanding reached between the US Embassy and the Government of India. While this will never be confirmed by either American or Indian officials, given the master-slave relationship between the US and the UPA Government, it cannot be ruled out.</b> For, it is unlikely that this Government will have the gumption to ignore an instruction received from Washington, DC, via the American Embassy in Chanakyapuri.
This is not to suggest that Mr Haywood is guilty of having committed any crime. For all we know, he may have been entirely innocent and had no clue about his computer's Internet Protocol address having been hijacked by terrorists. But, in the absence of conclusive evidence to this effect, neither can he be given a clean chit or the benefit of doubt. Indeed, there is no reason to treat him any differently from those believed to have had a role in planning and carrying out the July 26 bombings or the earlier terrorist attack in Jaipur. The law cannot, indeed, it must not, distinguish between Americans and non-Americans, in this case Indians. <b>By letting Mr Haywood flee India, authorities have committed a serious security breach and they cannot be allowed to escape accountability. If they acted according to political instructions, then those who intervened on Mr Haywood's behalf must be exposed. It may not be entirely coincidental that foreigners wanted in connection with crimes against the nation have managed to escape whenever the Congress has been in power at the Centre. Recall the ease with which a wanted Italian, Ottavio Quattrocchi, fled India. </b>This time it is an American who has done the vanishing trick. :ouch:
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I think it could because of intelligence matters like Rabinder Singh. The fact that Embassy was talking to Intell officials could mean that.