How Headley's Testimony Nailed Tahawwur Rana's Role Before An Indian Court

Tahawwur Rana's involvement in the conspiracy behind the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai was established during the deposition of David Coleman Headley, his childhood friend and a key accused in the terror attacks case. In 2016, Headley appeared before a special court in Mumbai through video conference from an undisclosed location in the US. The key figure in the terror plot, who had visited the targets for reconnaissance, answered questions from Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and defence lawyer Advocate Wahab Khan.

Headley revealed that he was in constant touch with Rana and even took his permission to open a business office in Mumbai as a front for his activities. According to the chargesheet of the National Investigation Agency, Rana provided logistic, financial and other assistance to David Headley and others involved in plotting terror attacks in India.

Rana has already been convicted in the US for his links to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terror group that plotted and executed the attacks from Pakistan. A US court has convicted him of helping plot an attack against a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, but cleared him of the charge of planning the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Although he was acquitted, the Chicago trial brought his links with Headley into the public domain.

During his deposition, Headley answered Ujjwal Nikam's questions on how the 26/11 attacks were planned and executed. His statement made Tawahhur Rana's role very clear, leaving no room for questions.

The US' Federal Bureau of Investigation had said in a statement after Rana's conviction in 2009 that he had admitted to knowing that Lashkar was a terrorist organisation. "In a post-arrest statement in October 2009, Rana admitted knowing that Lashkar was a terrorist organization, and that Headley had attended training camps that Lashkar operated in Pakistan. Headley testified that he attended the training camps on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times, leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later that killed more than 160 people and wounded hundreds more," the statement said.

"In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley testified that he travelled to Chicago and advised Rana, his long-time friend since the time they attended high school together in Pakistan, of his assignment to scout potential targets in India. Headley obtained approval from Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and elsewhere, to open a First World office in Mumbai as cover for his activities. Rana directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley's cover story and advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India, according to Headley's testimony, as well as e-mails and other documents that corroborated his account," the statement added.

Headley corroborated these details when he testified before the special court. He said Lashkar had planned the Mumbai attack and the same group of ten terrorists that attacked Mumbai in November 2008 had made failed attempts to strike the city in September and October that year. David Headley said he came to India eight times before the attacks and once after. He spent two years researching sites, even taking boat tours around the city's harbour and befriending Bollywood stars as part of his cover. Ujjwal Nikam asked Headley about ISI's role in the attacks. Headley detailed how he met two ISI officers, Major Ali and Major Iqbal, who connected him to Sajid Mir, a Lashkar recruiter with known links to the ISI. Sajid Mir was his handler, but he also mentioned "my other Lashkar colleagues". Headley said he joined the Lashkar in 2002 and trained under its leaders Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, key plotters of the 26/11 attacks.

Headley also corroborated what was proven in the trial in the United States. "In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley testified that he travelled to Chicago and advised Rana, his long-time friend since the time they attended high school together in Pakistan, of his assignment to scout potential targets in India. Headley obtained approval from Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and elsewhere, to open a First World office in Mumbai as cover for his activities. Rana directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley's cover story and advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India," the FBI said.

Headley repeated these facts during his deposition from the US as he turned approver in the case. His deposition took place during the trial of Abu Jundal, who allegedly coordinated the November 2008 attacks from a control room in Karachi, Pakistan. He was also accused of tutoring the terrorists in language during their training. During the attacks, Indian investigative agencies had found one voice among the handlers, who were in touch with the ten terrorists in Mumbai, to have an identifiable Indian tone and accent. Investigators say that the voice was of Zabiuddin Ansari, who uses the alias Abu Jundal. Ansari was also involved in the Aurangabad arms haul case and other terror cases as well, according to the investigators.

Will Headley Be Brought Back Too?

David Headley, who was born Daood Sayed Gilani, is in a US prison after he was sentenced to 35 years in jail for his role in the Mumbai attacks. While India continues to push for his extradition, Assistant US Attorney John J Lulejian told a federal court in US's Los Angeles that unlike Rana, Headley had immediately accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty to all charges. "Because Headley fulfilled the required terms, the plea agreement established that Headley would not be extradited to India. Rana's situation is different because he neither pleaded guilty nor cooperated with the United States," he said. In 2018, Headley was seriously injured in a prison attack.