David Headley to give video testimony on 26/11 today

The Mumbai sessions court conducting a trial against Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal over the 26/11 terror attack is likely to record the statement of Pakistani-American Lashkar operative David Headley, who turned approver in the case, on Monday morning through video-conferencing.

In a first, the sessions court will start work on Monday at 7 am. The temporary change in court working hours was made after special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam filed an application before judge G.A. Sanap. This was needed due to the time difference between India and the US.

Headley, now serving a 35-year jail sentence in the United States for his role in the Mumbai attacks, had told judge Sanap he was ready to depose as a witness if given a pardon.

While being produced before the court via video conferencing from an undisclosed location in the US, he had expressed a desire to turn approver in this case, and the court had on December 10, 2015 accepted this.

After turning an approver, he will be deposing before the court for the first time and is likely to give details of his and others’ involvement in the 26/11 attacks. Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam says Headley’s evidence will be very important in unravelling many facts behind the Mumbai attacks.