Two leading boarding schools located in prominent hill stations in a north Indian state and a few five star hotels in popular tourist spots are targets of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba, a senior Home Ministry official said on Wednesday.
India's case against Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives Tawwahur Rana and David Coleman Headly are in limbo since no decision has been taken on whether a team of the National Investigating Agency would be sent to the United States to question them. Rana and Headly were both accused of helping plan the 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai, in which several Americans were killed. While Headley turned into a prime witness for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rana was acquitted.
Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana was on Thursday acquitted by a US court on charges of abetting Mumbai terror attacks but was convicted for providing material support to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and helping a terror plot in Denmark.
Tahawwur Rana was on Thursday held not guilty on charges of involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks by a United States federal court which convicted him for providing material support to Pakistan-based terror group LeT and for plotting an attack in Denmark.
NIA sources say that the questionnaire for Rana would be more on the lines of the one prepared for American terror operative David Coleman Headley, but there would be more additions to it once his testimony before the US court is complete
With the arrest of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley the attack on the offices of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten that published the Prophet Mohammed cartoons was averted. But the masterminds of this attack are the ones who planned and executed the 26/11 strikes -- Sajid Mir, Abu Qahafa, Mazhar Iqbal and Major Iqbal. The US court may have named them conspirators in the Mumbai attacks, but the danger is far from over. They are still at large in Pakistan.
David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative is being deposed before a Mumbai court on Monday through video conference.
A 61-year-old American national, identified as Winston Marshal Carmichael, was detained at the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi on late on Wednesday night minutes before he was to board a Qatar-bound flight after a knife was found in his hand baggage.
The Pakistani handlers of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, who attacked Mumbai during the 26/11 terror attacks, wanted to obtain the release of captured gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab in exchange for the hostages held by the terrorists, an indictment chargesheet for two suspects has said.
The move will come in view of the busting of the Lashker-e-Tayiba plot, in which the Pakistan-based terror group was planning to use Pakistan-born US national David Coleman Headley and Canadian passport holder Tahawwur Hussain Rana to launch terror attacks in India.
The hearing of the bail application of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pak-born Canadian citizen arrested on terrorist charges, has been postponed by a week.
The United States on Friday said it has briefed the Indian government about the progress made in the case of David Coleman Headley, who was nabbed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October, for plotting a major terror attack in India at the Lashkar-e-Tayiba's behest."I know that our ambassador (Tim Roemer) has briefed the government of India on the case, and we continue to follow the case," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told.
David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, arrested last month by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, were part of a Lashkar-e-Tayiba plan of a major terror attack on the facilities of a Danish newspaper and the National Defence College in India, federal prosecutors have said.
The arrest of David Coleman Headley, an American national held on terror charges by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Chicago earlier this month, is an indicator of the extent which the Lashkar-e-Tayiba could go up to carry an attack on Indian soil. The Lashkar is adopting new strategies to carry out terror strikes; and the latest one, according to the sources in the Intelligence Bureau, is the appointment of doctors.
While the prosecution and defence presented closing arguments in the trial of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Pakistani-Canadian doctor chose to remain silent and did not take to the stand. Rana, a co-accused with David Coleman Headley in the Mumbai terror attacks, did not testify at his trial, as the federal jury was set to begin its deliberations.
Now that David Headley has pleaded guilty, it is settled that he will not be extradited to India and that India will not be allowed to interrogate him.
How this individual who had been alerted to the authorities, the US Embassy, about his perhaps Islamic leaning to some radicalization, was still able to have a visa, that visa not revoked and able to get on a US aircraft," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was asked by a reporter.
Noted laywer Ujjwal Nikam had asked the court that Headley should be tried along with Abu Jundal.
Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana has moved an 'emergency application' with the United States Supreme Court against his extradition to India, claiming that he will be tortured there since he is a Muslim of Pakistani origin.
The American-Pakistani terrorist's deposition will resume on Thursday.
The Mumbai police on Monday submitted a chargesheet before a special court in Mumbai against Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana for his involvement in the November 2008 terror attacks in the metropolis.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
Here are the revelations made by Headley so far in the deposition
Key 26/11 plotter Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal's lawyer on Monday informed a Mumbai court that he wanted to cross-examine Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley for four days.
Chilling confessions of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman during his 30-hour interrogation with the National Investigation Agency last year reveal that the 26/11 attack is not the worse the nation has experienced. In fact, the terror strike that massacred Mumbai has only inspired the terror group to continue waging "war" against India.
Tahawwur Rana, accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has renewed his application to the US Supreme Court seeking a stay of his extradition to India. The Supreme Court will hear the application next month. Rana, currently detained in Los Angeles, claims his extradition would violate US law and expose him to torture in India due to his health and Muslim background. The US government has denied these claims and authorized his surrender to India, citing the Extradition Treaty between the two countries. The Supreme Court's decision will determine if Rana will face justice in India or remain in the United States.
In a further blow to the encounter case of Ishrat Jahan, the National Investigation Agency has clarified that convicted terrorist David Coleman Headley, who is currently lodged in an American jail, never mentioned the 19-year-old during any of the interrogations.
A Delhi court on Monday issued fresh non-bailable warrants against Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, his accomplice Tahawwur Rana, Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and 26/11 attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who are accused of carrying out terror attacks in New Delhi.
Tahawwur Rana, accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited to India after the US Supreme Court denied his last-ditch effort to avoid being sent back. Rana, a close associate of David Coleman Headley, another key conspirator in the attacks, was expected to be extradited "shortly" after his legal appeals failed. This decision comes after a multi-agency team from India traveled to the US to complete all necessary paperwork and legalities with the US authorities. Rana's extradition marks a significant development in the pursuit of justice for the victims of the Mumbai attacks.
The deposition was meant to secure more information and revelations on the 26/11 terror attacks that would make India's case against Pakistan stronger. Instead, the internal conflicts within India's security establishment stood exposed.
Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley on Tuesday continued his deposition for the second consecutive day before a court in Mumbai.
A Delhi court has issued fresh non-bailable warrants against Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, his accomplice Tahawwur Rana, lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and 26/11 attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who are accused of carrying out several terror attacks in India.
'His deposition shows that the dividing line between Pakistan's State and non-State actors had completely blurred in Mumbai's 26/11 terror strikes.'
'India has established probable cause to prosecute him for his role in terrorist attacks that resulted in 166 deaths and 239 injuries'
Pakistani-origin terror convict Tahawwur Rana, whose extradition to India has received a green signal, was 'very relaxed' in the days after the 26/11 attacks and wanted Pakistan's highest military honour to be bestowed on the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists who carried out the carnage in Mumbai.
The United States has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to India. The decision was announced by President Donald Trump during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House. India is currently working on the logistics of Rana's surrender and extradition, with several final steps to be completed before he is sent back to India. The joint statement issued by India and the US during Prime Minister Modi's visit reaffirmed their commitment to fighting terrorism and eliminating terrorist safe havens. The leaders also called on Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks. Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention center in Los Angeles. He is associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
Former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government of India would not file formal charges against Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley until Ajmal Kasab's trial was over. Vicky Nanjappa reports
'The government has to explain (to the army, air force and navy chiefs) whether they want a punitive strike, a deep punitive strike, or whether they want limited war or an all-out war, will it be a circumscribed war or will it be a shallow attack along the border.'
'Pakistan may have moved back from this devilish plot in 2007, but there is no guarantee it won't be on the drawing boards again,' warns Rajeev Sharma.
Magistrate judge Jacqueline Chooljian on Thursday ordered the defence attorneys and prosecutors to file additional documents by July 15, which was reported by a US news agency.
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