26/11: David Headley made five trips to Mumbai from 2006-2008

The mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attacks, David Coleman Headley, made five extended trips to Mumbai — in September 2006, February and September 2007, and April and July 2008 — each time making videotapes of potential targets, including those attacked in November 2008.

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“Before each trip, Lashkar members and associates instructed Headley on specific locations to conduct surveillance. After each trip, he travelled to Pakistan to report his handlers and hand over the surveillance videos,” the US Department of Justice had revealed during his sentencing.

Ahead of his April 2008 visit, Headley and his co-conspirators discussed potential landing sites in Mumbai for the team of attackers, who later arrived by sea. During this trip, it was revealed that he carried a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, taking boat trips around the Mumbai harbour and entering various locations into the device.

Between November 26 and 28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades, and improvised explosive devices on multiple locations in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi hotels, Leopold Café, Chabad House, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station—all of which had been scouted by Headley. The aattacks resulted in the deaths of approximately 164 people and left hundreds injured.

In March 2009, Headley returned to India on a sixth surveillance mission. This time, his targets included the National Defence College in Delhi and Chabad Houses in several cities.

Headley, a US citizen of partly Pakistani descent, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in the US for a dozen federal terrorism crimes relating to his role in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and a subsequent proposed attack on a newspaper in Denmark.

He pleaded guilty in March 2010 to 12 counts that were brought against him following his arrest in October 2009 as he was about to leave the country. Immediately after his arrest, Headley began cooperating with US authorities.