“Headley is the first one to depose before Indian court from foreign soil. Sources said Headley had initially refused to confess and after which Doval met US officials four months ago. According to the sources Doval put pressure on US to make Headley turn approver. The sources said that Headley’s confession will help India isolate Pakistan completely.” – Manoj Gupta & Shawan Sen
A day before 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks convict David Coleman Headley will depose in court, his confession has nailed Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence and Army‘s role in the attacks.
On the basis of National Investigation Agency‘s interrogation report accessed by CNN-IBN, Headley said 26/11 attacks were launched with Lashkar-e-Toiba Hafiz Saeed‘s approval. He said attacks were executed with the help of ISI and the money was given for recce.
Headley added that apart from Mumbai, he had recced residence of the Vice President, India Gate and CBI office in the national capital.
Headley further said that ISI’s major Iqbal and Sameer Ali were my handlers. He also said that LeT’s Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi‘s handler was ISI brigadier Rivaz and added that ISI chief Shuja Pasha visited Lakhvi after his arrest, post-26/11 terror attacks.
It was a major success for India in 26/11 case after Headley turned approver through efforts of NSA Ajit Doval.
Headley is the first one to depose before Indian court from foreign soil. Sources said Headley had initially refused to confess and after which Doval met US officials four months ago.
According to the sources Doval put pressure on US to make Headley turn approver. The sources said that Headley’s confession will help India isolate Pakistan completely.
All this comes just a few days after US President Barack Obama sent a strong message out to Pakistan on terrorist groups operating from its soil and lauded India’s efforts to reach out to its neighbour. He had said, “Pakistan should de-legitimise, disrupt and dismantle terrorist networks on its soil. Both Modi and Sharif are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region. India can be an anchor of stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Headley is currently serving 35 years in an American prison after being convicted of being involved in the planning and execution of the Mumbai terrorist attacks on November 26, 2008 in which 166 persons were killed. – IBNLive, 7 February 2016
Filed under: india, pakistan | Tagged: 26/11 mumbai attacks, david coleman headley | daood sayed gilani, hafiz muhammad saeed, india, ISI, pakistan, pakistan army, pakistani terrorism, terrorism |
Headley nails role of Pak Army officials, ISI agents in 26/11 – Kanchan Chaudhari – Hindustan Times -Mumbai – Feb 08, 2016
An explosive testimony by US-born Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Coleman Headley has exposed the role played by some Pakistani military and intelligence officials in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which had left 166 people dead in the country’s business capital.
The 56-year-old US national, who deposed before an NIA judge through video-conferencing on Monday, said that though his sole contact in the LeT was one Sajid Mir, he was also in touch with an agent of the Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), whom he identified only as Major Ali.
Headley, who turned approver and is now lodged at a US jail, told judge GA Sanap that he came in contact with the ISI officer after he was arrested at Landi Kotal in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area.
Headley said he had been to the border area along with a retired Pakistani military officer, Major Abdul Rehman Pasha, to meet a drug dealer Zaib Shah, with the aim of smuggling weapons and explosives to India. He was arrested for being a foreign national in the area where no outsider is allowed to venture. Headley said he was later released following the intervention of Major Ali, after he showed Pakistani identity cards.
Headley said Major Ali later introduced him to one Major Iqbal as the former thought that the US national could be used to gather intelligence in India. Headley, according to his deposition before the court, changed his name from Syed Daood Salim Gilani to David Coleman Headley in Philadelphia in order to conceal his identity and also obtained a new passport in the new name, as instructed by Siraj Mir.
He conceded that he gave false information while applying for visa at the Consulate General of India at Chicago and later took help of his friend Dr Tahawwur Husain Rana and his partner Raymond Sanders for obtaining a 5-year business visa with multiple entries, so that he would not be required to apply for visa again and again.
Headley had met Dr Rana, a doctor in the Pakistani Army, at a military school in Punjab province. Dr Rana was his schoolmate for 5 years.
Replying to a question by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, Headley said he reported the change of his name and obtaining of a US passport in the new name to both Siraj Mir and Major Iqbal, and both of them approved of it.
He also informed them about the story that he had cooked, that he was visiting India under the guise of an immigration consultant working on behalf of the firm of Dr Rana and Sanders – Immigration Law Center, established in Chicago in 2006.
Responding to another question from Nikam, Headley said he was not aware where Major Ali was serving at the time, but was aware that his headquarter was Khyber Rifle Regiment, a unit of the Pakistani army.
>> 15 things Headley told TADA court
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