Kasab on NIA radar in Headley probe
By IANSTuesday, November 17, 2009
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI - The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is expected to question the lone surviving 26/11 attacker, Ajmal Amir Kasab, as it probes the Indian network of terror suspects David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana now in American custody.
Officials overseeing the probe said Headley, a Pakistan born American, personally visited every site of the 26/11 terror strikes last year in Mumbai and carried out a recce on behalf of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
Posing as a Jew, he visited Nariman House, the Jewish Chabad House, in July 2008 and mapped the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, and the Taj and Trident Hotels.
“We have more leads to indicate that the duo helped LeT plan and execute the Mumbai terror attacks. There are also pointers suggesting that the two were in Pakistan when the terrorists attacked Mumbai, a home ministry official said.
The NIA is now expected to interrogate Kasab to ascertain how he and nine other terrorists got information of the target sites. Since Kasab is undergoing trial, the NIA will need to seek the court’s permission before questioning him.
Indian intelligence officials are in touch with security agencies in Canada to gather more information on Rana since he’s a Canadian citizen. Headley and Rana were arrested by the FBI last month on charges of hatching a plot to launch fresh attacks in India.
“It is important for us to know of the sleeper modules they were in touch with across India. Many of them must have gone underground,” said an official.
A team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is expected to arrive in India Wednesday to pursue vital leads obtained by Indian investigators and visit some of the cities both men travelled to. The FBI has less than two months to frame charges against the duo in a US court.
According to Indian investigators, both travelled to Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Agra, Kochi, Surat and Ahmedabad, posing as immigration agents. Headley also visited the Osho Ashram in Pune twice, once last year and then in March this year.
Ashram officials have mentioned that Headley had been at Koregaon Park for a meditation course.
The NIA is convinced that the bogus immigration centre was a cover to ensure their activities went undetected but is still keen to know if they recruited candidates and sent any abroad.
Rana had left Mumbai just five days before 26/11, the day 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived in the city and laid siege over three days, killing at least 166 people in India’s worst terror attack.
Headley, sources said, stayed at the Taj and the Trident in 2007, and rented a flat in Breach Candy close to the CST station in 2008, while Rana stayed at a guesthouse in Mumbai.
They had even booked their phone numbers and cars under the name of their immigration centre.
Their MTNL landline number (022-23530003) was booked under the immigration centre while the mobile number 9867833413 was registered under their secretary Makhrukh Rohington’s name. A third number 9820910814 is yet to be traced to anyone.
We are looking into that, said a police officer.
In Delhi, police have identified two cyber cafes in central Delhi visited by Headley during his three-day stay in the national capital early this year.
