Home Secretary G K Pillai talks to rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa about the lack of information from the United States on Lashkar operative David Headley
David Headley dominated the discussions between the CIA and their Indian counterparts on Monday.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman and accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has moved a court seeking permission to talk to his family members. The NIA has been directed to file a reply by April 23.
Tahawwur Rana has the answers to festering questions on the 26/11 terror attacks and the NIA must pry it out of him, even if they have to feed him biryani, advocates Athimuthu Ganesh Nadar.
William said he was in disbelief that his own nephew was connected with the massacre in Mumbai. Headley wrote letters to his uncle from a Chicago jail, addressing him as "Dear Uncle Billy (Mama)". William said Headley had communicated to him that he was doubtful he would be let off, after he was arrested on terror charges in October last year. In a letter dated December 18, 2009, Headley wrote to his uncle that "despite his heritage, he is now a 100 per cent Muslim."
Headley, 55, was pardoned on December 10 and made an approver by additional sessions judge G A Sanap who presides over special cases related to terrorism, including those under the now repealed Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.
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.
Vicky Nanjappa provides a glimpse of what Rahul Bhatt, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's son and a 'witness' in the case against David Headley, revealed during questioning.
An NIA official, who was part of the team that interrogated David Headley in FBI custody, tells Vicky Nanjappa that the Pakistani-American terrorist was beaming with pride each time they asked him about his association with the Lashkar and also his role in the 26/11 attacks.
"We are burning the midnight oil, working our fingers to the bone," he said, to ensure access to Headley for India, as it was "so important to India, the Indian people, the Indian government."
In a volte-face, the United States has said no decision has been taken on providing India direct access to 26/11 accused David Headley.
Days after Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley implicated Inter-Services Intelligence in the Mumbai attacks during his testimony in a United States court, Interior minister Rehman Malik has described him as a convict who has "no credibility and cannot be trusted."
Currently in Morocco, David Headley's estranged wife Faiza Outalha accompanied him as he surveyed targets for the 26/11 attacks. She visited Pakistan after her India visit. Vicky Nanjappa reports
'He is the key to unravel the 26/11 conspiracy.'
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a jailed accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has moved a court in New Delhi seeking permission to speak to his family. The 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman is currently in judicial custody and is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley and operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) to carry out the terror attacks. Rana was brought to India after the American Supreme Court dismissed his review plea against his extradition.
Union Home minister Rajnath Singh asked Opposition parties if they were prepared to apologise to the nation for their "malicious campaign" against PM Modi over the killing of Ishrat Jehan.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor welcomed the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 case, and said everyone associated with the conspiracy of the Mumbai terror attacks must face the court of justice. He described Rana's extradition as a "step forward for justice." Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of David Coleman Headley, is being brought to India after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition failed. Tharoor expressed hope that the interrogation of Rana would provide more details about the Mumbai attacks and said he was "very glad" that Indian authorities managed to get Rana's custody.
India may get access for the second time to Mumbai attacks terrorist David Headley and his accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Demanding death penalty for Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said he should be extradited to face trial in Indian courts for the killing of 166 people in the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes.
The central government has appointed advocate Narender Mann as special public prosecutor to conduct trials and other matters related to the National Investigation Agency case RC-04/2009/NIA/DLI against Tahawwur Hussain Rana and David Coleman Headley, who is in a US prison following a plea deal.
Indian fell vindicated when Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley testified that the ISI had trained him in terror. But on Tuesday, Headley did a U-turn as he gave a clean chit to Pakistan's spy agency. Hoping to nail the ISI in the 26/11 case, Indian intelligence agencies say that Headley's changing versions come as no surprise to them. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key figure in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited from the US to India and produced before a Delhi court. Rana, a close associate of David Coleman Headley, was brought to India after the US Supreme Court dismissed his review plea against extradition. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought 20 days of custody to interrogate Rana, citing clinching evidence, including emails. The agency believes that Rana's interrogation is critical to understanding the larger conspiracy behind the attacks and his role in planning them.
He was sent to judicial custody on May 9 and lodged in Tihar jail after his custodial interrogation by the NIA.
Security experts wonder if the home ministry's outburst against the US is directed at seeking David Headley's extradition.
After arriving in Pakistan, Headley began training with terrorists, eventually playing a key role in the 26/11 attacks that left 166 people dead in Mumbai in 2008, The New York Times reported quoting court records and interviews.
Pakistan-born American citizen David Coleman Headley and Canadian citizen Tahawur hussain Rana were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at Philadelphia airport. The FBI believed that the duo were Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives who were tasked with spreading terror in India.
Eminent public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who was instrumental in sending Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving militant of 2008 Mumbai attack to the gallows, has termed David Headley's sentence as meagre in comparison to the brutality and heinousness of the crime.
A "remorseful" Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley made a last ditch effort to have his sentence reduced by writing an emotional letter to the judge claiming he is a changed man and was sorry of his past doings.
Though Indian and American authorities have refused to give details regarding the interrogation of arrested Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley, sources in investigating agencies have revealed that the probe team was taken aback by the fluency with which the Pakistani American spoke Hindi.Headley's fluency in Hindi indicates his preparedness for the terror strike in Mumbai, say sources.
Days before United States President Barack Obama's maiden India visit, US envoy Timothy Roemer told CNN-IBN in an interview that the controversy over the confessions of David Coleman Headley will not affect the ties between the two countries.
Pakistan on Tuesday dismissed as "baseless accusations" National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon's remarks that David Headley was linked to the Pakistani establishment and intelligence agencies.
David Headley, who played a big role in the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks, will plead guilty before a Chicago court in the United States on Thursday.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday said the Indian government was pursuing its case for having an access to American terror suspect David Headley, who is being tried in the United States.
There is still some possibility of extraditing Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley to India, if the Mumbai terror attacks convict violates his plea agreement, a US federal attorney has indicated.
Investigators say David Headley may have surveyed 26/11 targets and guided the terrorists's minders in Pakistan during the actual attacks.
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thakckeray was on Tuesday night dismissive of Mumbai terror attack accused David Headley's testimony in a Chicago court that a plot was involving his handlers in Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI and terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba was hatched to kill him.
Senior analyst B Raman on how India should react to 26/11 accused David Headley's testimony in co-accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana's ongoing trial in a Chicago court.
Investigators told rediff.com that more than two people within the Indian Mujahideen provided logistical support to David Headley and his accomplice Tahawwur Rana to survey the targets that were attacked during 26/11.
India on Wednesday said it would press for access to Lashkar-e Taiba operative David Headley and his extradition and that his plea bargain with the US authorities is being examined in this context.
The National Investigation Agency will soon file a charge sheet against Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley, a mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
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