Who Is David Coleman Headley, How Is He Linked To 26/11 Accused Tahawwur Rana

India is preparing to bring the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana back from the United States. And that has also turned the attention to his close associate, David Coleman Headley, one of the key conspirators of the 2008 bombings that killed 166 people, including 20 security force personnel and 26 foreigners, in several parts of India's financial capital.

A joint team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is reportedly set to extradite Rana after his legal attempts to block the move failed - nearly 16 years after he was arrested by the FBI.

Headley, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, had already pleaded guilty to his role in the attacks that plunged Mumbai into chaos for nearly three days. He is currently serving a 35-year sentence in an American prison for terrorism-related charges linked to both the Mumbai attacks and a planned assault on a Danish newspaper.

Who is David Coleman Headley?

• David Coleman Headley was born as Daood Sayed Gilani in Washington DC to Sayed Salim Gilani, a prominent Pakistani diplomat and broadcaster, and his American wife, Alice Serrill Headley.
• Headley spent his early years at a boarding school in Pakistan before moving to the US, where he worked as a barman at his family's pub in Philadelphia. He established links with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
• In 1998, he was sentenced to two years in prison for smuggling heroin into the US from Pakistan. Following his release, Headley began working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), carrying out undercover surveillance operations in Pakistan.
• After attending at least five LeT training camps in Pakistan between 2002 and 2005, Headly travelled to India on the instructions of Lashkar commanders to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks in 2008, according to the US Department of Justice.
• He was arrested in 2009 by US authorities before he could carry out further attacks in Denmark. He later pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and cooperated with investigators, offering detailed insights into LeT operations and Pakistan's role.
• He is serving a 35-year prison sentence in the United States. India has repeatedly sought his extradition, but US authorities have refused, citing his cooperation deal.