Explainer: Headley, key to the conspiracy

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had registered a case against David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani (a US citizen), Tahawwur Hussain Rana (a Canadian citizen) and others in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks at New Delhi’s NIA police station on November 11, 2009.

They were charged under Section 121A of the IPC, Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 6(2) of the SAARC Convention (Suppression of Terrorism) Act.

As per the case details, Headley and Rana entered into a criminal conspiracy with members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HUJI), both terrorist organisations based in Pakistan, to commit acts of terror in India.

While Rana has been extradited, the other seven accused in the case are in Pakistan, while Headley is currently lodged in a jail in Chicago.

The accused include top functionaries of LeT and HUJI — Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, alias Tayyaji; Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi; Sajjid Majid, alias Wasi; Illyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, alias Major Abdurrehman, alias Pasha. Also in the list are Pakistani spy agency ISI’s Major Iqbal, alias Major Ali, and Major Sameer Ali.

NO EXTRADITION

David Headley, who is of mixed Pakistani-American parentage, surveyed and chose the locations of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. He entered into a plea bargain with the US Department of Justice, that included a deal that he would not be extradited to India.

In 2016, when the US allowed Indian investigators to probe Headley, he said ISI gave him Rs 25 lakh to procure a boat in which the 10 terrorists sailed from Karachi to Mumbai in November 2008.

Headley, in the presence of US officials, revealed that it was the ISI that briefed him on various aspects of the plan.

CO-CONSPIRATORS

Headley stayed at Mumbai’s Taj Hotel in March and May of 2007, while Rana left Mumbai only five days ahead of the 26/11 attacks. Taj bore the brunt of the LeT-sponsored strikes.

Headley made as many as nine visits to India between 2006 and 2009, including after the terror attacks.

The duo used landline phones and mobiles to contact their “handlers” in Pakistan and travelled within India in trains. In Mumbai, Headley operated a business of visa facilitation from Tardeo using a rented place.

US INFORMANT

During Headley’s trial in the US, his past surfaced as being an informant of the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

India conveyed its displeasure that the US authorities knew more about Headley than they had publicly stated. US warnings provided to India before the Mumbai attacks came partly from the authorities’ knowledge of Headley’s activities, it is believed.