Mr Naidu’s comments come in wake of Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley’s revelation yesterday before a Mumbai court that Ishrat, the 19-year-old girl from Mumbra near Mumbai, was actually a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative.
Advertisement
“Kahfa told me that the egress option was discarded as if it was in the mind of the person (attacker) that he has to leave then he will not fight well”, Headley further said.
“A battery of Congress leaders were lined up who went on giving statements there are evidences (against BJP leaders), there are conversations happening, there are people who said the man with white beard and black beard”.
Continuing his depositions in a Mumbai court through video conference from an undisclosed location in the US, Headley said he had discouraged LeT from attacking the naval air station and Siddhivinayak temple that were heavily guarded.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday hit back at the Opposition for targeting the ruling dispensation post David Headley’s claim on Ishrat Jahan, saying the so called nationalist parties should construct the idols of terrorists in their party offices and offer prayers in front of them.
Four persons- Ishrat Jahan, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
The police claimed that Ishrat Jahan and her associates were LeT operatives plotting to assassinate then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
“Jahan was a LeT member”, Headley deposed before special TADA Judge A. Sanap in Mumbai on Thursday.
Headley also revealed that Rana had visited Mumbai before the terror attacks.
Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar said, “This is just a ploy by those guilty who are powerful to try and salvage their names that have been besmirched”. “I don’t know how much control they executed but they are the ones who decided everything finally”, Headley said.
He said he had videographed BARC at Trombay in Mumbai in July 2008 and that LeT had asked him to recruit some employee of BARC who would work for ISI. “I think Pakistan has been exposed”.
Asked if the ball was not more in Pakistan’s court as those responsible were roaming freely in that country, Toner said: “Well, we’ve worked and encouraged that kind of collaboration between Pakistan and India on this particular case”.
Making this revelation, Headley said he had received funds for terror from both LeT and Pakistan’s ISI which was used for gathering intelligence and other works in India, including starting a business.
“The ISI wanted to recruit BARC staffers for future…to get classified information from them”, Headley said.
“On November 28, 2008, Shazia sent me an e-mail congratulating me for the 26/11 attack”, he said.
Advertisement
On the other hand, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari questioned the attempts to use Headley’s testimony to justify the “fake” shootout.
