Islamabad, Jan. 1: The alleged FBI visit to Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab’s village remains shrouded in mystery a day after a Pakistani TV channel claimed the US sleuths had found no evidence linking the terrorist to Pakistan.

Neither the Federal Bureau of Investigation nor Pakistani or US officials would confirm if the alleged visit to Faridkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province took place at all.

PTI, however, quoted “diplomatic and other sources”, whose names or nationalities were not revealed, as saying the FBI probe was continuing and that no conclusions had been reached.

“The sources rubbished reports in the media, particularly in some Pakistani TV channels, that the FBI team had found nothing that proved Kasab was a Pakistani national,” the Indian news agency reported.

“The FBI team was still in the process of conducting its inquiries and would take more time to come to conclusions, the sources said.”

Yesterday, Pakistan’s Geo TV had claimed the FBI team had not found any proof that Kasab was from Faridkot, as alleged by Indian authorities.

The FBI is alleged to have sent a five-member team headed by its director for South Asia, William Robert. A senior US embassy official, however, told The Telegraph: “We have no information about the visit of an FBI team to Faridkot in Pakistan.”

Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper quoted FBI spokesman Richard Kolko as saying, when asked if an agency team had visited Faridkot, that: “We are unable to provide details of what is being done. We refer you to Indian authorities or the US state department.”

Kolko added: “The FBI continues to assist Indian authorities with their investigation. We will work with the Indian authorities and our partners to follow leads wherever they may take us.”

Dawn also quoted the interior secretary in Islamabad, Syed Kamal Shah, as saying: “It is not in the knowledge of the interior ministry and the Punjab government. It is impossible for the US team to pay any visit without informing us… and (the) Punjab government.”

Private TV channels quoted Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s “interior adviser”, Rehman Malik, as denying that any FBI visit had taken place.

PTI, however, said the FBI had, during a visit to India when they questioned Kasab for nine hours, concluded he was a Pakistani. Dawn pointed out that the FBI had issued no statement after the India visit.

Dawn, however, had earlier carried an interview with a Faridkot resident, Amir Kasab, who claimed the Mumbai gunman whose pictures were beamed around the world (Ajmal) was his son.

The Geo News channel had quoted other Faridkot residents as saying Ajmal had visited the village about six months ago and told his mother he was going away for “jihad”, PTI said.

Pakistan and India today swapped the lists of their nuclear installations and facilities, a routine yearly affair.