David Headley deposes in court: '2 previous attempts to target Mumbai before 26/11 had failed'

The Special Terrorist And Disruptive Activities Prevention Act TADA Court yesterday recorded the statement of 2611 attack prime accused David Coleman Headley who has been convicted by a US court for his role in the attack The US court has awarded Headley a 35year jail term He has now become an approver in the case Headley in presence of his lawyer and the US Attorney deposed before Special Judge G A Sanap via videoconferencingSmoke is seen billowing out of the ground and first floor of the Taj Hotel during security personnelrsquos lsquoOperation Cyclonersquo following the 2611 terror attacks in 2008Even before the proceedings commenced the courtroom was packed to its capacity by 7 am Those present in the room included Special Public Prosecutor SPP Ujjwal Nikam US embassy officials National Investigation Agency officials from Mumbai and Delhi officials from IB Mumbai police media personsLeT operative David Coleman Headley deposed before the TADA court yesterday from the US via videoconferencingTwo televisions were mounted inside the courtroom While one streamed Headleyrsquos deposition the other one streamed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal live from Arthur Road Jail Judge Sanap entered the courtroom at 710 am and initiated the proceedings by 715Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam addressed media persons outside Tada Court picsPtiThe hearing commenced with Jundal stating that he no longer wanted to be defended by Memood Pracha and needed time to finalise a new lawyer as he felt Pracha would ruin his case Jundal also informed the court that he has filed an application before the Principal Judge seeking transfer of the case and requested the court to defer the hearingTaking objection to Jundalrsquos demand Nikam said These are mere delaying tactics Headley is here and we have made all the arrangementsMeanwhile Pracharsquos assistant Ishrat Khan appeared in the court and said that he along with senior counsel would like to represent Jundal Judge Sanap asked Khan to seek Jundalrsquos consent on the matter Following a conversation between the two Jundal agreed upon Khan defending him for the time beingHeadleyrsquos DepositionFollowing his introduction to the court Headley was asked to stand up and take an oath that whatever he says before court is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth Dressed in a grey tshirt and brown trousers Headley answered every question posed to him without hesitation The questionanswer session lasted for almost five hours mdash from 730 am to 1215 pm mdash during which two short recesses of 20 minutes each were takenExcerpts from QampANikam N You entered into a plea agreement with the US government in 2010 Is that rightHeadley H YesN By the said agreement you will truthfully testify before foreign judiciary via videotelephonic conferenceH YesN You also agree that if you do not agree you will be entailed to death penalty for all the offencesH YesN Is it that US court framed 12 charges in all and you pleaded guiltyH YesN Your profile pleaseH I was born on June 30 1960 in Washington DC US I am a citizen of US by birth Immediately after my birth my parents took me to Pakistan where I did my schooling at Habib public school in Karachi and then went to Hasan Abdal Cadet College in Punjab Province It was an army type school for five years and later at the age of 18 I shifted back to the US I stayed there with my motherN Which languages do you knowH English Hindi and UrduN What was your name at birthH Dawood GilaniN Your fatherrsquos nameH Saleem GilaniN What is your present nameH David Coleman HeadleyN When did you apply for change of nameH I applied in October 2005 and it was changed in Philadelphia on February 15 2006N Where did you decide to change your nameH In PakistanPAK AND LeT LINKSN Why did you change your nameH To secure a passport in that nameN Why did you want a new passportH So that I can enter IndiaN Why did you change the name when you couldrsquove entered using your original nameH So that I could conceal my real identityN After changing the name which country did you visit firstH PakistanN In Pakistan to whom did you inform about the name changeH I disclosed it to my colleagues in LeTN Who were your colleaguesH Sajid Mir He was the person I was dealing with Though I met several he was my main contactN Why did you inform Mir about the name changeH It was he who had asked me to change my name so I informed himN How did he react upon hearing your new nameH He was pleased and approved itN When did you visit Pakistan after changing your nameH Immediately Maybe a few weeks laterN May I know what was the task given for which you were asked to change your nameH I was assigned the task of visiting India and opening an officeN What was the intention behind setting up the officeH So that I could settle downN Any specific reasonH Initially he didnrsquot mention anything but later he did Mir asked me to shoot a video of MumbaiN Did you check the purpose with himH I didnrsquotN You didnrsquot ask because you were an LeT followerH I was a true follower I had a fair idea about it as to why I was assigned to take a general video of MumbaiN Were you issued any US passportH Yes In the name of Sayyed Dawood GilaniN What happened of itH I think I returned it for a new oneMUMBAI VISITN How many times did you visit Mumbai before 2611 terror attackH Seven timesN How many times did you visit Mumbai after the attackH Only once on March 7 2009N Out of eight seven times you came to Mumbai via KarachiH Itrsquos correctHeadley was shown two passports in which he identified his photos signatures and contents When he was asked about the passports he saidH I submitted these documents in Chicago on June 30 2006 Some of the contents of documents are incorrect The contents which are incorrect were written by meN What was the purpose behind submitting false infoH The purpose was to protect my identity while applying for visaN What was the incorrect infoH Fatherrsquos name Nationality of Father Marital Status Address Phone number Professionhellip lsquoPretty much everythingrsquo except place and date of birth motherrsquos nationality my nationality and passport number Rest everything is falseWhen he was shown his second visa he identified his photo signs and its contentsH This time I was obtaining visa for 5 years for Mumbai which I got Details mentioned in this application were same as above Rana knew the purpose of me visiting India so he helped me obtain oneHeadley informed the court that his school friend Dr Tahbbur Rana helped secure a Business visa for multiple entriesN Why a business visaH So that I donrsquot have to apply again and againN What cover story did you cook upH I posed as an immigration consultant in Mumbai from the Immigration Law Centre ChicagoN Who had given you this adviceH Sajid Mir the same LeT operativeTRANSFORMATION INTO A PAK SPYHeadley said he and his friend retired Major Abdul Pasha were to meet drug smuggler Zaid Shah in Federally Administered Tribal Areas FATA near Afghan border Headley thought Shah would help them smuggle weapons to India However Headley was arrested because foreigners are not allowed in FATA and also for possessing literature on India AtFATA he was interrogated by Ali an ISI man at Landi Kotal next to Afghan border Besides Alirsquos intervention Headley Pakistani identity saved him Later Ali introduced Headley to Major Iqbal I was introduced to ISI Major Iqbal by Ali as I wanted to go to IndiaWhen Headley was asked why did Ali introduce him to Major Iqbal he said Because he thought I could be useful for intelligence work in India Headley identified Mir when he was shown his pictureATTACK ON MUMBAIN Has anyone from LeT ever mentioned about attack prior to 2611H Mir told me that two earlier attacks had failedN When was the first attack attempted and why did it failH It was in September 2008 This attack failed because the boat hit against some rocks in the ocean and disintegrated Those onboard swam to the safety of the shore using lifejacketsN Where did this boat startH It probably started from KarachiN What happened of the explosives and weapons on the boatH All was lost in the oceanN When was second attempt made and why did it failH The second attempt was made in the same month or later This also failedN Who were there in that boatH The same ten people as beforeN Was LeT successful the third timeH YesN Was it the same 10 peopleH YesHEADLEYrsquoS INSPIRATION TOJOIN LeTN When did you join LeTHMy first course was in 2002 at Muzaffarabad in lsquoAzad KashmirrsquoN Whose speech motivated youH LeT chief Hafiz Saeed SabHe identified Saeed after he was showed his photographN Is Lashkar a militant organisation from PakistanHYesN What is its goalH Fight the Indian army in Kashmir and assist KashmirisN Does LeT carry out terrorist activities across IndiaH YesTRAINING WITH HAFIZ SAEED AND LAKHVIN Are you aware ofDawraheamaH It is the preliminary military course Dawrahekhasa is the advanced course It is conducted in in Muzaffarbad Pakistan Recruits are trained in handling explosives and weapons Dawraheriba is an intelligence courseN What did you learn from these coursesH Setting up a safe house and conducting recce which was done near Abbotabad All these places are protected by LeTN Did take any leadership courseH Yes It was conducted near AbbotabadN Who were its speakersH Hafiz Saeed and ZakirurRehman Lakhvi alias LakhviNWhat type of lectures did they deliverH Mostly religious speechesN Did they teach you about JihadH YesN What does Jihad mean to youH To fight against enemies of IslamN Did you Hafiz Saeed and Lakhvi consider India as an enemyH YesN Have you every fought against Indian troops in KashmirH NoN Did you wanted toH YesN Then why didnrsquot you go thereH Because I was told that I was too old for KashmirN Who said this youH Lakhvi He said that theyrsquod use me for other thingsN Did Lakhvi mention this specific purposeH In 2006 I was instructed by Mir But I dot know whether Lakhvi had asked Mir to do soN You also mentioned about MuzammilH Yes His is a Lashkar personN Who else do you rememberH Abu Furka Sana Ulla Abu Hanzala Abu Usman Abu Saeed and Abu Fahad Ulla I donrsquot remember Abu Suraya and Mukti SaeedN Were all these retired officers from Pakistan MilitaryH No None of themhellipmaybe a fewN Did they knew how to operate sophisticated weaponsH If AK47 is sophisticated then yesN All these were real or nicknamesHThey were all nicknamesN Did any of them ever disclose their real names to youH None