Sheela Bhatt reveals the inside story on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's revelations to India on the Headley-Rana case, and of how the findings have changed the 26/11 investigation in India.
The handler of American-born Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley carried out reconnaissance in New Delhi when he came to the national capital in 2005 on the pretext of watching a Indo-Pak cricket match, according to an investigation report.
Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley, convicted in the US for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, on Thursday told a court in Mumbai that terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba wanted to eliminate Bal Thackeray but the person who was assigned the job to kill the late Shiv Sena chief was arrested.
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.
A video of the Federal Bureau of Investigation interrogation of Tahawwur Rana, a key suspect in the Mumbai attacks, has been screened for the first time by the prosecution in his trial at a court in Chicago, in which he is shown talking about Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence giving weapons to co-accused David Headley.
Samraz, the wife of Mumbai attacks co-accused Tahawwur Rana, said on Tuesday that India was her second home and there was no reason her husband would have planned to attack that country.
The Mumbai attack trial in a United States court resumed on Tuesday with co-accused David Headley testifying that Al Qaeda leader Ilyas Kashmiri had a plan to kill CEO of Lockheed Martin in frustration over drone attacks along the Af-Pak border.
The imminent trial of Pakistan-born Canadian citizen Tahawwur Rana, co-accused with David Headley in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, could reveal Inter Services Intelligence's links to terrorists, according to a news report.
Rana knew about my association with LeT. I informed him about the training imparted by me to LeT operatives. I disclosed to Rana that I was spying for LeT. This was four to five months before the 26/11 attacks," said Headley.
In a long battle, this is Rana's last legal chance not to be extradited to India.
While it is a known fact that he had scouted targets for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which carried out the 26/11 attacks, the more important aspect is the manner in which Headley goes on to explain the nexus terrorists in Pakistan have with its spy agency Inter Services Intelligence.
David Coleman Headley, the star witness in the Chicago trial of the Mumbai terror suspect Tahawwur Hussein Rana has credibility problem because of his dubious past in which he apparently worked as a double agent, according to experts.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative also revealed about his training while he deposed in front of a Mumbai court via video link.
Two days after US terror suspect David Headley was charged with conspiracy in the Mumbai terror attacks, his acquaintance and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's son Rahul on Wednesday asserted that he was innocent and assured full cooperation with the police in 26/11 investigations.
The United States on Tuesday said that it was working closely with India on the Headley-Rana case to detect and prevent future terror attacks. Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from Chicago in October for plotting terror attacks in India and Denmark.
Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said on Tuesday that the National Investigation Agency has not approached the state government so far to question the 26/11 terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab on his possible links with alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives David Headley and Tahawwur Rana.
Noted director-producer Mahesh Bhatt on Friday refused to comment on the reported links between his son Rahul and David Headley, a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative nabbed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly plotting attacks in India, and said the onus is on the investigating agencies to provide an answer on the issue. According to the Mumbai Mirror newspaper, Pakistan-born United States citizen Headley's 'Rahul' was apparently Mahesh Bhatt's son.
Oberoi hotel, one of the sites attacked during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, was not originally on the list of targets for surveillance given to David Headley by his Inter Services Intelligence handler. But the Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative made a video of it after filming Chabad House as he had an hour to spare before he could catch a movie.This was revealed by the LeT operative in his testimony before a Chicago court during co-accused Tahawwur Rana's recently-concluded trial.
Working on a plot more sinister than the Mumbai attack, David Headley and his Pakistani handlers, Illyas Kashmiri in particular, were to behead the heads of the hostages and throw the heads out of the window for their planned terrorist strike in Copenhagen.
Media reports had said that Headley was attacked by two inmates at a Chicago prison on July 8.
'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.'
The Indian Consulate in Chicago said the papers related to issuance of visas to terror suspects David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana had not gone missing and the 'relevant information' in this regard is available with the Indian government.
Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, who pleaded guilty to plotting the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and conducting reconnaissance for likely targets, will have to undergo a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. According to United States attorney office's spokesperson Randall Samborn, life imprisonment without probation is the maximum sentence that Headley can get."Probation means no jail term, but I said he's not eligible for probation so that's irrelevant," said Samborn.
In the volatile international situation where 'nativism' is on the rise and immigrant communities are being targeted, the Leader of the Opposition's statement is like adding fuel to fire. If the Indian diaspora numbering 4 crores is threatened it will constitute a grave threat to national security, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The government on Monday said it cannot rule out the possibility of the involvement of a foreign hand in the Pune blast, including a David Headley link, even as it disclosed that an Inter Services Intelligence -sponsored 'Karachi Project' was going on to indoctrinate Indian youth on to the path of terror.Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai said there is definitely a Headley link to the Pune blast, since it took place at the German Bakery.
"I have read news reports attributed to security agencies wherein they have said that Rahul has not been given a clean chit for his Headley connection. I am deeply hurt. He is a true and responsible Indian who himself volunteered to share the information with the agencies. Rahul's heart is clear and he doesn't require any clean chit from anyone," Bhatt told PTI.
The star has played Rahul quite a few times in the movies.
Backed by a court order, India is expected seek extradition of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba operative David Coleman Headley and his accomplice Tawwahur Rana. But this is going to be an uphill task for investigators, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
A team of the National Investigation Agency is probing whether Pakistani born American citizen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley visited Ajmer after the terror attack on Mumbai last year. Headley was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in early October from Chicago on charges of plotting terror attacks in India and Denmark. The NIA team has already searched a number of hotels in Pushkar, 15 kms from Ajmer, and taken possession of the records
Investigations into suspected terrorist David Coleman Headley's stay in India have led the sleuths to trace his footsteps in five cities.
Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, who has confessed to plotting Mumbai attacks, will cooperate with Indian authorities as required by the terms of his plea agreement if the US government allows access to New Delhi, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
The former armyman -- identified as Sajid Mir -- has turned out to be Headley's handler in Pakistan and was tasking the American to learn praying like Jews so that he could conduct a recce of Jewish Centre Nariman House in Mumbai and the premises of a newspaper in Denmark, official sources said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The extradition of arrested American national and Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley is likely to take place only after the Mumbai police files a supplementary chargesheet against him in connection with the 26/11 terror attacks case.
Seeking to clear the air over his son Rahul's connections with terror suspect David Headley, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt on Friday said his family had decided to break to the police information about the contacts between the two.
The Indian government has cancelled visas of Pakistani-origin terror suspects and Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana, according to sources.
"If there are other offences, which are not covered under the plea agreement, then of course extradition is still possible," Home Secretary G K Pillai said when asked about chances of India being able to get Headley's extradition.
The United States has put the case of David Coleman Headley, Mumbai terror attack suspect now languishing in a Chicago jail, as one of the key counter-terrorism cases on information sharing with its partners.
The sentencing of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley is expected to happen only by early next year, after the trial of co-accused Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana is complete, Headley's lawyer said in Chicago.
The ISI's Indian mole Honey Bee helped plan the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks and there were 10 locals who provided logistical support to David Headley, Adrian Levy tells Sheela Bhatt in an exclusive interview.
The National Investigation Agency has finished the paperwork needed to question Tawwahur Rana, who was sentenced to a 14-year jail term for providing support to Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
