Tahawwur Hussain Rana, Mumbai attacks co-accused, had an ambitious plan to enter Bollywood by launching Rahul Bhatt, son of film director Mahesh Bhatt, in a movie that he wanted to make.
The mysterious Major Iqbal, who India suspects is a Pakistani army officer in the Inter-Services Intelligence, has now been identified as Chaudhery Khan by Mumbai terror accused David Headley. Headley also confirmed that Khan was the mastermind of the 26/11 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.
Although LeT operative David Coleman Headley says nothing new in his recent confession in a US court that Pakistani ISI helped Lashkar-e-Tayiba execute the 26/11 terror strikes in Mumbai, it still vindicates India's stand, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Tahawwur Rana, cleared by a Chicago court of involvement in the Mumbai attacks, knew about the 26/11 plot as he was part of 'the inner circle' and was tipped off about the 'imminent' strikes by none other than Lashkar-e-Tayiba's Pasha during a meeting in Dubai, according to United States prosecutors.
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.
Attorneys of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was convicted on Thursday by a United States court for providing material support to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and helping plan a terror plot in Denmark, said they would appeal against the verdict as there was an error in the trial. Rana's attorney Patrick Blegan said he would file post-trial motions, claiming there was not enough evidence to convict him and there was an error in the trial.
As the Chicago court prepares its verdict in the case of Pakistani-American terror accused Tawwahur Rana, Indian agencies wait with bated breath for the result.
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.
While Pakistani handler Sajid Mir and ISI's Major Iqbal are both in the dock in the Chicago court where Tahawwur Rana is being tried for his role in the 26/11 terror attacks, Mir remains Pakistan's biggest worry. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The LeT was more interested in a spectacular operation in India than in Denmark. The 313 Brigade was more interested in a spectacular operation in Denmark than in India. It was the FBI's successful monitoring of the plans for an attack in Copenhagen which led to Headley's arrest and the subsequent discovery of his role in India, says B Raman
Citing the need to be better prepared for trial, Pakistani-Canadian terror suspect Tahawwur Rana has asked the US government to provide him "specific" details of the kind of "material support" he provided to terror acts, saying so far the prosecution's allegations in the superseding indictment have been "vague".
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-origin American citizen charged with criminal conspiracy in the Mumbai terror attacks, could face the 'maximum statutory penalty' of life imprisonment or death if convicted.This was contained in additional charges unsealed at a Chicago court, which is hearing the case against 49-year-old Headley, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October, along with LeT operative Tahawwur Hussain Rana.
Suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Coleman Headley was charged in a Chicago court with criminal conspiracy in the Mumbai terror attacks that killed about 180 people, including many foreigners.
The US administration had informed the Indian government before it finalized a deal with David Coleman Headley to change his plea to guilty, sources said.
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.
Canadian-Pakistani Tahawwur Hussain Rana, indicted on charges of helping plan the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, is expected to be arraigned in a court here on January 21 along with co-accused David Coleman Headley.
The bail plea of Tahawwur Hussein Rana, who faces possible life sentence for involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, has been opposed by federal prosecutors in a Chicago court, which asked the Pakistani-Canadian Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative to respond to this by January 20.
A Lahore-based retired Pakistan army major has emerged as a key link between the Mumbai terror attack suspect David Coleman Headley and his Pakistani handlers who guided him in planning and plotting strikes in India.
A Chicago court has given 58 days extension to federal prosecutors to file case indictment against Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month on charges of plotting major terrorist attacks in India and Denmark.
A Chicago court has given a 60-day deadline to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to complete its investigations and file an indictment into the foiled terror plot in India and Denmark by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist group.
Pakistani-Canadian LeT operative Tahawwur Hussain Rana has appeared in a Chicago court for his arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiring to provide material support to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and a terror plot in Denmark.
In a bid to seek bail, Mumbai terror attack terror suspect Tahawwur Rana on Thursday told a Chicago court that his escape from the United States will only force him to live as an 'international fugitive' and his knowledge of immigration business will not help him run from a 'federal indictment'. Charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists in India, Rana filed in the US District Court his 7-page reply to the government's response to the motion made by him
Pakistani-origin American national David Coleman Headley, charged with criminal conspiracy in the Mumbai terror attacks, had misrepresented facts while applying for an Indian visa, the FBI has charged.
United States prosecutors have sought 58 days extension from November 19 to file indictment against Tahawwur Rana, accused of being part of a LeT terror plot in India, saying that the Federal Bureau of Investigation needs more time to diligently examine fresh evidence unearthed against him in recent raids.
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.
Raja Lahrasib Khan, a naturalised citizen of the US who worked as a taxi driver in Chicago is alleged to have discussed a plot to attack a stadium in the US and is to be produced in a Chicago court on Friday, officials said. The investigation in the case was not related to the case of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives David Coleman Headly.
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.
Pakistan's Consul General in Chicago personally knew both David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, nabbed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for planning to carry out a major terror attack in India at the behest of LeT, the US authorities have claimed.
India will have "full access" to all the information on terror suspect David Headley, who pleaded guilty before a Chicago court to all 12 terror charges including the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, US Assistance Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake said in New Delhi on Friday.
Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, the very-much-alive 77-year-old British writer who received the Nobel Literature Prize in 2001, was "killed off" by the FBI in a footnote. The slip-up was noticed after documents presented to a Chicago court were unsealed on Tuesday wherein the acclaimed writer is referred to as "the late V.S Naipaul, a Nobel prize winning author" in the footnote of sworn testimony by Special Agent Lorenzo Benedict.
Home Secretary G K Pillai said if Headley gets severe punishment and comes out of the judicial process, it would be easier for India to get access to the Pakistan-born American national in jail. "If he is given a light sentence, it would not only be disappointing but we will be registering a very strong protest with the US," Pillai told NDTV hours ahead of the hearing against Headley in Chicago.
Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, charged with conspiring in the Mumbai terror attacks, is set to plead guilty before a US court in an apparent bid to bargain for a lighter sentence and escape death penalty.
Headley was not a double agent, but a quadruple agent. He initially started working for the DEA around 1998. He started working for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba some time in 2005, and started working for the 313 Brigade of Ilyas Kashmiri towards the end of 2008, says B Raman
After the terror attacks in Mumbai last year, terror suspect Tahawwur Hussain Rana complimented members of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, saying they had done a 'good job', United States prosecutors have alleged. According to a 10-page memo filed by United States prosecutors in a Chicago court on Monday, Rana asked co-conspirator David Coleman Headley to "pass along a message" to LeT Member A, whom Rana had given the name 'Khalid bin Waleed'.
A Chicago court has adjourned the hearing on the bail application of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, one of the two LeT operatives nabbed by FBI in October on charges of plotting a major terror attack against India, till December 15.
Former interior minister Rehman Malik has termed Pakistani-American terrorist's testimony in the 2008 Mumbai attack case as "a pack of lies".
The US-based wife of American-born LeT terrorist David Headley and his business partner have "refused" to answer questions posed by NIA, citing a privacy clause.
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
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances