Pakistani-American David Headley's confession in a US court about his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks has strengthened the 26/11 case, currently being heard by a special judge in Mumbai, public prosecutor in the case Ujjwal Nikam said on Friday.
Roemer said, "Headley may well be responsible for canvassing, tracking information to pass on to attackers of Mumbai blast. This is the sort of the thing that the US is extremely serious about. We want, along with Indian people and Indian government, to bring him to justice."
American national and Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror suspect David Headley had stayed in a hotel close to a Jewish centre in Pune during his visits to the Osha ashram in the city in 2008-09.
Headley visited Goa in 2008 during the last leg of the reccee that he had conducted in Mumbai. Sources in the Intelligence Bureau told rediff.com that Headley was definitely not on a holiday in Goa, but was exploring the possibility of carrying out a terror strike in the tourist destination. The NIA says it is possible that Headley was using the American couple in Goa as a cover. For the Lashkar, Goa was a backup option to the Mumbai attack.
Security agencies today did not rule out the possibility of execution of plans by Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashker-e-Tayiba of the places recced by David Headley, an American terror suspect, arrested in the United States last October.
"Headley created messages, saving them in the drafts folder of a Web-mail service rather than sending the message. he person creating such a message then provides a colleague with the user name and password for the account, which enables the second person to log on and read the communication in the draft folder without an e-mail having been sent. This procedure is referred to as an electronic dead drop.
Headley, accused of masterminding terror attacks in India at the behest of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, is believed to have visited Pune on a business visa and left for Mumbai later, police sources said
With the Intelligence agencies confirming that David Headley and Thahawur Hussain Rana had indeed come to Kochi and other parts of Kerala, the state police have started a massive man hunt to find out the duo's associates.
While the Union home ministry issues statements time to time that it is hopeful about Headley's extradition, many within the establishment know for a fact that it is beyond impossible for this to happen thanks to the plea bargain secured by the Lashkar operative
During opening statements at Chicago's Dirksen Federal Building, Assistant US Attorney Sarah Streicker said that Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian, told Headley, an American of Pakistani origin, after the Mumbai carnage in which 166 persons were killed in November 2008 that the "Indians deserved it."
Mumbai attacks co-accused David Headley on Wednesday testified that New Delhi-based National Defence College is on the hitlist of terrorists as 26/11 mastermind Illiyas Kashmiri believes in this way he can kill more Indian brigadiers than what the Pakistan Army could not do in four wars with India.
The leaders of the US Senate and House Intelligence committees have defended National Security Agency's phone and internet surveillance programmes, saying it has been critical in thwarting potential terrorist attacks and also to track the 2008 Mumbai attacks' convict David Headley.
Reacting to David Headley's sentencing, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said on Friday that in India the trial of the Pakistani origin American would have been more severe and would have been given a longer jail term for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
American prosecutors may seek a lesser sentence for Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley -- under a plea agreement the latter has clinched with the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- at the sentencing of the Pakistani-American terrorist in a United States court on Thursday.
Seeking to downplay the Headley controversy, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said on Tuesday, that the access given by the US to the Pakistani-American terrorist was "unprecendented", saying such cooperation may not have been possible five years ago.
India has asked the United States to 'temporarily' hand over Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley for a year and extradite his accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana to get more information about the conspiracy behind Mumbai terror attacks.
Concerned over reports that Mumbai terror suspect David Headley may enter into a plea bargain with prosecutors in Chicago, Indian security establishment feels that it would lend credence to suspicions that he may have been working for the Americans.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has written to his United States counterpart Hillary Clinton requesting for extradition of Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist and Mumbai terror accused David Headley and his accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana.
The National Investigation Agency on Saturday told a Delhi court that Pakistani-American David Headley was congratulated by his wife for the success of the November 26 terror strikes in Mumbai.
With the United States promising to give India access to 26/11 accused David Headley, Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam on Saturday left for Washington to discuss legal modalities for it.
India said on Sunday that it is yet to get access to Lashkar-e Taiba operative David Headley but negotiations are underway on this issue and it is "satisfied" with the progress of discussions.
Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana was involved in the Mumbai attacks and he and his friend David Headley were part of the same team that carried out the terror assault in 2008, a US federal attorney told a Chicago court on Tuesday.
An Indian court may try and convict Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley for his role in the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, but the conviction would merely be a symbolic one.
The government has given its sanction to charge sheet nine people including Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley, Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and two Inter Services Intelligence officers for plotting terror attacks in India including the 26/11 strikes.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley's reported claim that Ishrat Jahan, killed in an encounter with police in Gujarat in 2004, was a suicide bomber of the terror outfit has been contested by the father of the man killed along with her.
India is likely to get access to Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley's United States-based wife Shazia, his two girlfriends and accomplice in Mumbai terror attack, Tahawuur Hussain Rana soon.
The Indian security agencies had sought all the details about Headley's links with Rahul, gym instructor Vilas Varak, some diplomats and business personalities who were allegedly misused by the terror suspect, sources privy to the investigations said on Monday.
The United States has launched a review of its agencies' handling of inputs provided by two of the three wives of David Headley about his involvement in the 26/11 strikes, a top Obama administration official said on Thursday, even as India expressed disappointment over not being provided specific information on the Mumbai attacks plotter
Agencies probing the 26/11 case will seek voice samples of David Headley and Tahawwur Rana -- the terror suspects -- from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ascertain the duo's role in the Mumbai terror attacks.
Seeking to downplay the inability of Indian officials to get access to suspected terrorist David Headley, the government on Tuesday said it has received a full report from US investigators and has advised them on what lines further probe was required.
The FBI has provided access to agents from India's domestic and external intelligence agencies to the information it has gathered on David Headley and his associate Tahawwur Husain Rana, who is also in the FBI's custody.
A special court rejected the plea to make Pakistan-American terrorist David Headley a witness in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case on Monday after the prosecution argued that he is one of the accused and part of a module, which had filmed targets in the city.
David Headley, who was involved in the Mumbai terror attack, was a liar and ditched his school time pal Tahawwur Rana, the Pakistani-Canadian's attorney told a Chicago court on Tuesday, claiming that their friendship was over and they would never meet again.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley approached the Inter-Services Intelligence to help another co-accused in Mumbai attacks Tahawwur Rana to get back to Pakistan, according to a video recording produced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation before a court in Chicago on Monday.
An officer in Pakistan's intelligence service chose a Jewish centre as a target for the 2008 Mumbai attacks and then helped launch a new plot against Denmark, according to the star witness in a terror trial in Chicago. In his second day of testimony, David Coleman Headley, a confessed Pakistani-American terrorist, revealed more details about close ties between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror group.
India has asked the United States to provide statements of 13 people associated with Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley and his accomplice in Mumbai terror attack case Tahawwur Hussain Rana as they could be potential witnesses.
"The NIA team is in Mumbai since Saturday and is gathering details pertaining to the activities of Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana. The NIA has recorded the statements of those who were in touch with Headley during his stay in the city," a senior police source told PTI.
A Delhi court extended the judicial custody of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, until August 13. The order was passed after Rana was produced via video conference. Rana is associated with David Coleman Headley. NIA has filed a supplementary chargesheet against Rana.
National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon has met his United States counterpart James Jones in Washington, DC and discussed modalities by which access could be given to David Headley, Lashkar-e Tayiba operative blamed for role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
India will seek direct access to Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley under a bilateral agreement signed in 2005 and a communication is being sent to the US to allow its investigators to question him. The draft letter was being examined by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram after it was prepared by Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam and officials of National Investigation Agency, official sources said in New Delhi.
