David Headley aka Daoud Gilani
Indian investigators, former Mrs. Headley and me
George Mapp
On November 23, 2009 I was strolling leisurely on the beach in Palolem, Goa with my Russian girlfriend who was nine months pregnant when my best friend Raj came to say hello. Shortly thereafter I noticed a lot of activity and many policeman walking towards us from all directions until we were suddenly surrounded. There was a vast number of policeman standing around us and many who were heavily armed. Later I discovered that Raj had been instructed to point me out to the police. Then they escorted us to a car that was parked on the road very close to the beach and a well-dressed and polite gentleman introduced himself as Mr. Shapoo of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He explained to me that it was like the FBI of India. That was the start of a very interesting relationship.
The David Headley / Faiza Outalha Connection
We were then escorted by numerous and various police vehicles to my flat that began a day that turned out to be one of three worst days of my life that I will never ever forget and that had a permanent negative impact on me. Day one was when I lost my mother to breast cancer when I was twenty years-old, day two I was an eye witness to 9/11 and watched live both towers fall and felt the ground shake from my office when the first tower fell and lost many, many friends that day. Day three was when I met Sajid Farid Shapoo. In the last case it was much more the circumstances of events of why I met Shapoo than the actual man himself. I cannot find the words to describe, the confusion, despair, hurt, disappointment, sadness, depression and anger of being accused of being a terrorist and being at the time the number one suspect in the entire country of India.
As the days of questioning took place, Shapoo and I got to be very well acquainted due to the very nature of the investigation which led him to eventually know virtually everything about me. It was at this time that he told me that Faiza Outalha’s ex-husband was David Coleman Headley aka Daoud Gilani.
The Entrails of The NIA Investigation
Try to imagine a foreigner, whose girlfriend is about to give birth in a matter of days or weeks, who is the number one suspect in the country of a terrorist investigation, whose passport was taken, Apple Mac Book Pro confiscated for forensic analysis (which has not been returned to this day), financial statements, documents and who was followed by plainclothes armed guards 24 / 7. The armed plainclothes police slept outside our door, followed us everywhere including to the beach, to the supermarket, to Raj's son christening and even my girlfriends doctor appointments with Dr. Dhavalikar.
Thank goodness for Dr. Dhavalikar, my girlfriend’s gynecologist that delivered our daughter on 12 December, 20009, who we saw quite frequently. He became a friend, a counselor and psychiatrist who prescribed me medication more than one occasion to help reduce my stress levels and so that I could sleep.
The ramifications and repercussions of the investigation have left me scarred permanently. I will mention a few examples here and after that not go into any more specifics at this time as the article would be too lengthy and as I will have many more details in the upcoming book project.
As Palolem is a small village, everyone wanted to know why the police were following me 24/7 and no arrests have been made. As I found out through my various friends, people kept saying that George doesn't do drugs. Most of the police cases in India that are in tourist areas are drug related. I must admit on first thought when Shapoo came to me, I thought for sure it was drug related. Not me directly but because of some of my friends that I know and also because Manali is located near Parvati Valley where the all the charas or hand-made hashish in India is produced. Manali is infested with drugs, drug-users, smugglers and mules. I know the local MDMA salesperson, who has a small shop as a front, as well as the local cocaine dealer. In Kasol you can buy opium in the corner store and almost every local in Manali sells charas.
This is another reason that people sometimes refer to Manali as 'magic Manali'. It is the combination of charas, the high altitude, being surrounded by nature eclipsed with a spectacular view of the Himalaya mountains. You can imagine the effect it might have on one’s sense and perceptions.
In fact, Old Manali (as well as the entire Parvati valley) is full of young Israeli's that usually come for six months after military service to get completely stoned. In Kasol, the are more signs in Hebrew than there are in Hindi or English. That is why I initially thought that Faiza was Israeli because of the huge amount of Israeli tourist's that populate Old Manali.
As I started to discuss before, one of the many effects and impacts of the investigation was that of the press. There were several articles that mentioned me but not by name specifically. It got to the point that my friends would call me and said that “I see they are talking about you in the paper again.” The following quote is from The Times of India, January 3, 2010.
On the basis of her statement [Faiza Outalha], the NIA team has also quizzed an American national in Goa who knew Headley. The US national, who is not (not) a suspect in the case, has been hopping in and out of India and had stayed in Manali and Goa with his Russian girlfriend. The American, who works as a masseur, has not violated any of the visa rules of the country and he had informed the investigators about Headley's activities in Goa.
Obviously this was after the investigation was finally over and I was cleared of all charges. However, the ramifications continued and are still felt to this day. My girlfriend, our six week old daughter and we had to leave to another part of Goa unexpectedly and unannounced to somewhere that no one knew me or about my connection to the Headley investigation.
As a result of the police following me, a drugged out paranoid British citizen named Adam Bills, unprovoked, attacked, assaulted and punched me in front of my nine and a half month pregnant girlfriend who then became hysterical and started to cry in front of many eye-witnesses at Filomenia's guest house. I then called Shapoo and screamed at him because of the incompetence of the local police force acting solely on his behalf. To this day, Shapoo has not made good on his word and promises in regards to Adam Bills.
Next: Part - III
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