Haywood returns to India, says he went to US on vacation (Lead)

Mumbai, Sep 11 : American national Kenneth Haywood, whose email address was reportedly hacked to send a threat message before the July 26 Ahmedabad bombings, returned to Mumbai Thursday and said he had never fled India but had merely gone for "a short vacation" to the US with his family.

"I am back as I am committed to my company, Campbell White, and have to complete my contract with them," he told mediapersons who were waiting outside the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) office in south-central Mumbai.

Haywood also reiterated his earlier statement that ATS officers had been extremely cooperative, friendly and showed understanding while investigating the matter.

His lawyer G.S. Hegde said Haywood had voluntarily gone to the ATS office out of courtesy since he had been cleared of all charges and the 'look-out notice' against him at all international airports in India was withdrawn.

ATS additional commissioner of police Parambir Singh told mediapersons that Haywood was not required for any investigations into the Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts. He also ruled out any possibility of subjecting him to a narco-analysis test.

Haywood has also given a statement to the police that he had been misquoted by police regarding allegations that certain policemen had demanded bribes from him to hush up the matter.

However, whenever required, Haywood would be summoned for investigations into this allegation, Singh said.

Responding to a query, Singh pointed out that the issue of jumping the look-out notice would be dealt with by the concerned department.

Earlier, Hegde said that Haywood returned since he was "feeling a lot safer than before".

"It was his own decision to return and get back to work with his company, Campbell White, in Navi Mumbai. After the police withdrew the look-out notice against him, Haywood feels a lot safer about coming back to India," advocate Hegde told IANS.

Haywood, along with his wife and two teenaged daughters, had taken a domestic flight to New Delhi and from there to the US on Aug 17, despite the look-out notice for him at all international airports in the country.

The terror email sent by Indian Mujaheedin minutes before the Ahmedabad blasts, was traced to his home computer in Navi Mumbai. Haywood, however, was never formally arrested.

He was grilled for 21 days by the ATS, the Gujarat police, West Bengal police and other security agencies.

He also underwent a lie-detector test and a brain-mapping test in Mumbai, the reports of all proved negative. His laptops, internet routers and other equipment were also subjected to forensic tests, the reports of which again came negative.

Soon after he sneaked out of India, embarrassed ATS personnel claimed they were planning to withdraw the look-out notice against Haywood very soon. The notice was withdrawn around a week after the Haywoods' departure.

At least 56 people were killed in the 20-odd bombings in less than two hours in Ahmedabad on the evening of July 26. Minutes before the first blast, an outfit calling itself Indian Mujaheedin sent the threat email to media organisations claiming responsibility and challenging security agencies to stop them.

--IANS