Busniess jargon masked words of terror

Source: DNA India

Soumya Menon / DNATuesday, November 17, 2009 10:06 IST

Bangalore: Extracts from conversations between suspected Lakshar-e-Taiba members Tahawwur Hussain Rana and David Coleman Headley, who are currently in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speak volumes on the code words - mostly corporate and business jargon - that were used to pass on information to each other.

According to senior police officers, the two used corporate jargon during conversations because they did not figure on the intelligence agency radar, even when sleuths were looking for clues.

It was only after the FBI started tapping into telephonic conversations, emails and personal meetings between Rana, David Coleman Headley, 'Individual B' and 'Individual A' (an LeT member) that the duo were trapped and their schemes revealed. Serious 'spying' began soon after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and continued till October this year.

Interestingly, Rana used to run an immigration services business, for which Headley - at times - claimed to work. After his arrest, Headley made it clear that words like 'property' and 'investments' were used as cover terms for violent actions.

From a copy of the criminal case filed by the FBI against Rana, which is currently in the possession of DNA, it can be deciphered that in addition to the 'Mickey Mouse Project', which referred to a plot to target a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the co-conspirators referred to targets through words like 'investments', 'projects', 'business' and 'action'. They described theirs hopes for success through terms like 'rich', 'richer' and 'profit'.

The document stated that in July and August 2009, Headley exchanged a series of emails with 'LeT member A'. The emails specifically used businesslike statements (quite literally, at that) such as 'I need to see you for some new investment plans', the reply for which was 'What do you want me to do? Where are you interested in making investments?' The conversation further mentioned 'Rahul', which was reportedly found to stand for Rahul Bhatt, son of film veteran Mahesh Bhatt.

They also used a lot of business jargon while discussing the death of Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami (HUJI) chief Ilyas Kashmiri, who was killed on September 14, 2009. The most striking part of the conversation was the liberal usage of the word 'doctor'. Kashmiri was referred to as 'doctor' while Rana was labelled 'Dr' or 'doc'.

After the initial conversation between Headley and the other members, which spoke on 'the doctor getting married' (referring to him getting killed), the FBI found Headley checking for information on Kashmiri's death through the Google search engine.

During an interrogation, Headley revealed that after Kashmiri's death, Rana had sent out a cryptic message stating: "There is some sort of an arrangement that is very accurate...I mean that of these guys... all their estimates are so accurate....The estimate...whatever assessment they do for any property is always accurate, so that have a very discerning eye, a very discerning eye on the market."

Headley had then replied by stating that he "will be coming to Pakistan soon, but there is nothing to do there. Now, let us quit the company. When a company goes bankrupt, it starts laying off its employees." Through this, Headley was referring to Kashmiri's death as a major loss to the jihadi cause.

The person, referred to as Individual B, then said, "When a businessman wants to do something, he has to contend with the risk factor also. Most people don't want to take risks but be praised for whatever little they have done."

To this, Headley responded: "Then there will be no profit because when you have high aims, the investment will be as risky as the chance of profit. At the same time, there will be a great chance of loss. I am telling you, other companies competing with us are running losses in terms of profit as well as the market. In these conditions, we will have to face bankruptcy within six months. By the end of twelve months, our companies will be done for."

On September 20, 2009, Headley was found telling another associate in Pakistan that the "business must go on. The main thing is that I should have a steady income. I don't care if I have to work for Microsoft or GE or Philips."

Through the names of multi-national companies, the alleged militant was referring to terror groups such as LeT and HuJI.