Working with India to bring 26/11 perpetrators to justice

Deposing before special TADA Judge A Sanap in Mumbai court on Thursday, Pakistani- American terrorist-turned- approver David Headley made sensational revelations in which he said that Ishrat Jahan, who was killed by Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch in an encounter in 2004, was a member of Pakistan-based terror outfit Laskhar-e-Taiba.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam gave three names to Headley and asked him to identify an LeT bomber.

“Zaki Saab (Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi) mentioned some police shootout at some area in India and later Muzammil Butt explained it to me”, said Headley, while replying to a question by Nikam.

Prodded by Nikam for details about the operation, Headley said, “There was a female wing in LeT which was headed by one Abu Aiman’s mother. All I know… is that my sister was innocent”.

Ishrat’s family has been alleging that she was killed in a fake encounter by the Gujarat Police.

“You must have heard what David Headley has just said in the court that Ishrat Jahan was a suicide bomber”.

Early on the morning of 15 June 2004, Ishrat Jahan, Javed Sheikh, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were shot dead on the road leading to the Kotarpur waterworks on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. “Major Iqbal told me that in some future date I should recruit some employee of BARC who would give us classified information and would be ready to work for the ISI”, Headley said, adding that he had handed over the video to Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal. They went to town saying that an innocent Mumbai girl was murdered by the trigger-happy Gujarat Police. “The political parties, who love such terrorists, should construct their idols in their party offices and offer prayers in front of them every day”, BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

Headley told the court here that his handlers in the ISI and LeT wanted to target Mumbai airport and Naval air station during the 26/11 terror attack.

He told media that Headley’s testimony had “exposed Pakistan”, but want to “maintain cordial ties with it”. Asserting that Ishrat had no terror links, Grover said, “It is not evidence”.

He had purchased four other books – “Royal Rajasthan”, “India’s Jewish Heritage”, “The Grand Trunk Road” and “Polo In India” – but the army book was of great interest to him, he said.

“Cuff Parade was selected as a landing site because there was a “technical advantage” as the place is surrounded by shanties”, said Headley.

Toner noted that Headley, who is undergoing a 35 year sentence in Chicago for his role in the attack, provided testimony via a video link to the Mumbai court.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi, the opposition party questioned attempts to justify the “fake” Ishrat Jahan encounter which it said were “not permissible by law”.