Had no personal knowledge about Ishrat, says Headley

MUMBAI: Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley told a court on Saturday that he had “no personal knowledge” about Ishrat Jahan. Headley had told the court last month that Ishrat — a 19- year- old college student from Mumbra who was killed along with three others in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004 — had been working for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

However, on Saturday, he said, “It would be correct to say that I have no personal knowledge about Ishrat Jahan.”

Headley also told the court that National Investigation Agency (NIA) had made several errors and omissions in his statement. He claimed the agency, after recording his statement in the US in June 2010, had not read it back to him.

On the fourth day of his c ross- examination before additional sessions judge GA Sanap, accused-turned-approver Headley was questioned about a portion of his statement relating to Ishrat, which he denied having said. Asked why certain information he claimed to have given interrogators was missing from his statement, Headley said he had told the NIA everything in 2010 and didn’t know why some of the information wasn’t included.

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