Author: Vicky Nanjappa
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: November 11, 2009
URL: http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/nov/11/david-headleys-terror-mission-in-mumbai.htm
David Headley, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative
who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October, is proving
to be an important link in unraveling the terror network.
Intelligence Bureau agents have informed the
Mumbai police that Headley made several visits to the city. The police are
now probing Headley's links with the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, IB sources
told rediff.com
According to information available with the
IB, Headley visited Mumbai in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He changed his name to
David Headley from Daood Gilani around 2006.
Sources say Headley traveled on a business
visa; he got in touch with a US firm which specialised in creating fake visas
and passports. He located a similar firm in Tardeo, central Mumbai, which
helped him procure fake travel documents.
With the help of these fake documents, Headley
traveled to India at least five times. During each visit, he made it a point
to visit the visa agency.
Headley was present in India when the terror
attacks on Mumbai was being planned and he may have been aware of such a plan,
the IB sources say.
If investigations reveal that Headley activated
a local module to assist the 26/11 attacks, the Mumbai police may file an
additional charge-sheet detailing this link, the sources added.
IB agents suspect Headley's brief in Mumbai
was to establish a network of sleeper cells to assist terror attacks.
Headley also traveled to other states including
Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, using his business visa. The FBI has revealed that
Headley had conducted a reconnaissance of the National Defence College in
New Delhi where he planned a terror attack.
