Headley tells court: ISI funds LeT & JeM

‘ ISI asked me to recruit Armymen as spies’ Siddhivinayak temple, naval station targets

Headley reveals to court that apart from Lashkar, he was also working for Pakistan’s ISI Plan to strike at defence scientists meet at Taj called off; his testimony will continue today

Lashkar- e- Tayyaba operative David Coleman Headley, now turned approver in the 26/ 11 Mumbai attack case, told a special court here Tuesday through video testimony from the United States that he was working for Pakistan’s InterServices Intelligence, which he said gave financial, military and moral support to LeT, Jaish- eMohammed and Hizbul Mujaideen.

Answering a question by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, Headley admitted that he had worked for the ISI besides Lashkar, and that he knew about ISI official Brig. Riyaz being the handler of LeT’s top commander Zaki- ur- Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind behind the 26/ 11 attacks in Mumbai. He also said that during his stay in Pakistan, Col. Shah, Lt. Col. Hamza, Maj. Samir Ali, Maj. Iqbal and retired Army officer Abdul Rehman Pasha, who was closely working with LeT and Al Qaeda, were among the ISI personnel who were coordinating with him.

Headley also told the court that he had done surveillance of key locations in Mumbai like the Naval Air Station, the Siddhivinayak temple and the state police headquarters on Lashkar’s instructions. He also deposed on the operations planned by LeT in Mumbai prior to 26/ 11, adding these were not executed for various reasons. One such plan was to attack a conference hall in the Taj Mahal Hotel during a meeting of Indian defence scientists. But this was called off as the LeT could not arrange the logistics for it.

Headley said he was specifically asked to survey the Siddhivinayak temple as a target. He also