Chicago, June 1 (IANS) A four-member team from India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrived here to interrogate Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative David Headley, who has confessed to his role in plotting the Mumbai terror attack.
This will be for the first time that Pakistani-American Headley, who changed his name from Daood Gilani in 2006 to hide his Muslim and Pakistani origin as he scouted targets in Mumbai, will be facing direct questions from Indian investigators since his arrest in October last year.
Headley, 49, son of a Pakistani father and American mother, entered into a plea bargain with the US government last March agreeing to be available to foreign investigators through deposition, video conferencing or letters rogatory.
The Indian team, which includes a special law officer, has arrived here following a communication from the US Justice Department. Besides the Indian team, those expected to be present during the questioning would be Headley’s lawyer and an officer of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The questioning of Headley, currently being held in the federal lock-up Metropolitan Correctional Centre in Chicago, is expected to revolve around the places he had visited after the Mumbai terror attack and the people he had remained in touch with during his stay in India.
Headley’s statement would be recorded by the Indian special law officer. The NIA, which has registered a case against Headley and Pakistani-Canadian national Tahawwur Hussain Rana for waging war against the country and under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, may then file a charge sheet against him.
Indian officials here declined to provide any details of the investigation team’s activities pointing to Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement that a joint statement would be issued after the completion of interrogation.
