The deposition of David Coleman Headley began before a special Mumbai court on Monday where he is expected to reveal the sequence of events and planning behind the 26/11 terror attacks. He also says that in October 2003, he met Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar 100 miles away from South Lahore at a meeting of LeT operatives.
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The question now is how the Narendra Modi government would respond to bring to justice LeT leaders like Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who have been released from jail, Tewari asked.
“My office was established in Mumbai so that I could take cover in India”, Headley told the court, adding he wanted the cover to hide his real identity. But Headley’s testimony will throw fresh light on the incident ending the ambiguity over the involvement of “state and non-state actors in it which will lead to the logical conclusion of the matter, ” he said.
Headley said the Mumbai attacks were planned in a meeting in November 2007 and it was attended by Mir and Abu Khafa. “In this meeting, they assigned me the task of conducting recce of Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai”, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Notably, Headley named Major Ali and Major Iqbal of the ISI and Lashkar commander Sajid Mir as his contacts in Pakistan.
India is also expected to ask the United States to take action against Hafiz Saeed against whom a Dollars 10 million reward was announced for information leading to his capture, following Headley’s disclosure. In today’s deposition, Headley, an American national, also told the court that he turned into a jehadi after being impressed by the speeches of Hafiz Saeed and was trained by LeT in 2002 at Muzaffarabad. “I did ask him how he could say that… and he said “ISI provides financial and moral as well as military support to Lashkar-e-Taiba”, the prosecutor added.
Headley, 54, provided details of his passport and his seven-eight trips to Mumbai and one to New Delhi between 2006 and 2008 before the Mumbai attacks, including seven via Pakistan, according to the official. During his deposition on Monday before a special court here via videoconferencing from the US, he identified Pakistani Army officers associated with the ISI. Headley said that he changed his name in passport on instruction from Sajid Mir.
Both Saeed and Lakhvi used to address these terror training camps, while others like Abu Furkad, Sanaullah, Abu Hanzala, Abu Saif, Abu Fahadullah and Abu Usman were his trainers, he said.
Responding to another question from Nikam, Headley said he was not aware where Major Ali was serving at the time, but was aware that his headquarters was Khyber Rifle Regiment, a unit of the Pakistani army.
He has also been accused of intentionally aiding and abetting the LeT in Pakistan for committing illegal acts in Mumbai, mischief by fire with intent to destroy Hotel Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House, offences under Explosives Act and Explosives Substances Act as also under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. “The same group was successful in attacking Mumbai”, he said.
A U.S. citizen and a convict of the state, Headley who is 55 years old, was 18 when he moved to the USA from Pakistan. “If we had insisted on his extradition, which was anyway very hard, and trying him in the special court, the case would have dragged on without Headley ever revealing anything to an Indian court or investigating agency”, the officer said.
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Jethmalani said Headley disclosed that the same ten people, who came on November 26, had come twice earlier but their attempts failed.
