NIA team concludes Headley questioning

The four-member team sent by the Indian government to question Lashkar operative and 26/11 Mumbai attacks plotter David Coleman Headley returned after seven days....

The four-member team sent by the Indian government to question Lashkar operative and 26/11 Mumbai attacks plotter David Coleman Headley returned after seven days.

While US Justice Department claimed that the investigators,led by Inspector-General Loknath Behera,questioned Headley with no restrictions,sources in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told The Indian Express that while Headley confirmed a lot of information that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had unearthed during the probe into the Mumbai terror attacks,he didnt volunteer any information on his own.

His lawyer was present throughout the duration of the questioning.

He is also learnt to have confirmed that he was acting at the behest of the Pakistan-based outfits when he visited India many times to conduct recce for the Mumbai attacks as well as attacks planned to be carried thereafter.

The questioning took place from June 3 onwards at the federal lock-up Metropolitan Correctional Centre,Chicago.

Sources said the US authorities have also informed their Indian counterparts that now that Headley has cooperated with the Indian investigators as per the terms of his plea bargain agreement,the US Department of Justice would now initiate the process of presenting the agreement to a Chicago court for getting the same ratified by the Judge.

Under the terms of the deal that Headley struck with the US authorities,he wont be given the death penalty or extradited to India.

Story continues below this ad

However,it was made mandatory for him to cooperate with foreign authorities and be interviewed by them in the United States.

Headley,it is learnt,confirmed the NIA information about involvement of Pakistan Army regulars in the Mumbai attacks as also the plan by Pakistan-based terror outfits to carry out more attacks in India. He has already confessed to his role in the Mumbai attacks and the same also finds mention in the plea bargain agreement between him and the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

Before initiating the process of granting access to the jailed operative,the US government had extracted an assurance from the Indian side that the information that Headley provides to the Indian investigators would not be made made public to protect the confidentiality of the investigations being conducted by the two countries.

In a statement issued at the end of the visit of the Indian team,the direct access given to the four-member team was described as useful and successful.

Story continues below this ad

There were no restrictions on the questions posed by Indian investigators, said the US DoJ statement.

Indias Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar said,This (the questioning) took place over several days,beginning from June 3,2010,and the team is now returning to India on the conclusion of a useful visit.