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  Pak action against LeT leadership was superficial: David Headley

Pak action against LeT leadership was superficial: David Headley

Published : Feb 14, 2016, 5:14 am IST
Updated : Feb 14, 2016, 5:14 am IST

The prosecution in the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks trial concluded examining Pakistani-American terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley on Saturday.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addresses students at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)
 Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addresses students at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

The prosecution in the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks trial concluded examining Pakistani-American terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley on Saturday. During his deposition, Headley said that an ISI major had informed him that the detention of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) leadership by the Federal Investigating Agency of Pakistan was “superficial”. He also revealed that the Southern Command of the Indian Army was also on the ISI’s radar.

Answering questions by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, Headley confirmed that he sent emails to Sajid Mir and Major Pasha to know if the LeT leaders were all right because he got worried after he came to know that Pakistan’s FIA had detained Hafiz Saeed and Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi during their investigation into the 26/11 terror attacks.

Headley said that Major Abdul Rehman Pasha of the ISI replied to his email in code that the detentions were superficial.

However, during his five-day evidence, Headley has not mentioned Syed Zabiuddin, alias Abu Jundal, who is currently facing the charge of being a part of the conspiracy.

The prosecution had sought permission to examine Headley to prove their case against Jundal.

Since Headley has not said anything about Abu Jundal, the prosecution has to now prove that the details Headley gave corroborate with the confessional statement given by Jundal or the evidence collected by the investigating agency.

The Mumbai crime branch has claimed that Jundal was present in the temporary control room established in Karachi to guide the Mumbai attackers. According to the prosecution, Jundal was issuing instructions to the attackers of the chabad house in Mumbai.Explaining about the code language used in emails, Headley said that he addressed Hafiz Saeed as "old uncle" and Lakhvi as "young uncle". "I heard old uncle got H1 virus2 and doctors at the hospital were planning to give him check-up (sic) " Headley wrote in one of his mails to Sajid Mir, which meant that he heard that Hafiz Saeed was under investigation and that he might be arrested. Mir, in his reply to Headley, who at that time (August 31, 2009) was in Chicago, said, "Your old uncle is fit. Don't put an ear to rumours. He is moving like a tornado."

Talking about the future plans of the ISI to attack India, Headley said Major Iqbal had asked him in the past to conduct a reconnaissance of the Southern Command of the Indian Army in Pune. "Major Iqbal had told me to visit the Indian Army installation to recruit people from the Indian Army in order to gain access to classified documents of the Indian military and paramilitary forces," Headley said. He said he visited the Southern Command in Pune in March 2009 and had made a video of the installation as well as the chabad houses in Pune and Goa. While deposing before the court, Headley said that Lakhvi's surname is Vashi and his son had died in Kashmir fighting against Indian troops and hence Major Sajid Mir had adopted the nickname of Vashi.

After the deposition, the court posted the matter to February 22, when Abu Jundal's lawyer will inform the court if he wants to cross-examine Headley.