Terrorist David Headley is testifying before Mumbai court via videoconference
Highlights
- First attempt in September 2008, when terrorists lost ammunition to sea
- Second attempt made by same terrorists in October 2008 also failed
- Headley is testifying to a Mumbai court via video conference from the US
Terrorist David Coleman Headley, testifying before a Mumbai court via video link the US, said that there were two failed attempts to attack Mumbai before 26/11, by the same 10 terrorists.
Asked how many attacks were planned before November 26, 2008, Headley said he had "no knowledge except the one I was involved with."
He did say that he was "informed" about the previous attempts by Sajid Mir of the Lashkar e Taiba, which masterminded the Mumbai attacks.
The first attempt was made on 8 September, 2008, Headley told the prosecutor.
"The boat hit rocks in the ocean, weapons and explosives were lost but those on board survived," he has revealed. The terrorists "probably came from Karachi," Headley said.
The second attempt was made the next month and those involved in the first attempt were also a part of this, but the attack failed, Headley says.
The same terrorists then struck the third time, and this time, they were able to attack landmarks across Mumbai in a three-day siege in which 166 people were killed.
In a rare deposition by videoconferencing, Headley, who is serving a jail sentence in the US, has named the Pakistani ISI and terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
Headley - who had recced targets for the Mumbai attack - told the court that Lashkar's Sajid Mir had told him to shoot videos in Mumbai. He also said Sajid Mir instructed him to change his name from Dawood Gilani to David Headley.
In December last year, Headley was pardoned by the Mumbai court after he turned approver or a prosecution witness. He has accepted the court's conditions that include disclosure of the "full and true facts" leading to the 26/11 attacks and his role in it.