India writing to U.S. Justice Department

NEW DELHI: India will write to the U.S. Department of Justice next week, making out the case for direct access to David Coleman Headley, Pakistani-origin American citizen, who has pleaded guilty to planning the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

A formal communication from the Home Ministry would be routed through official channels to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Top sources in the Ministry said on Friday that the government would wait for the Justice Department's response before sending a team of legal experts and police officials to question Headley, now in federal custody in Chicago.

The team is likely to include National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths, legal experts and police officials.

According to the plea agreement, Headley has agreed, when directed by the U.S. Attorney's office, to fully and truthfully testify in any foreign judicial proceedings held in the U.S. by way of deposition, videoconferencing or letters rogatory.

The sources said the NIA, which registered a First Information Report, against Headley in November last, was working on questions to quiz him.

Plenty of evidence

“A lot of evidence of how Headley operated in India during his trips has been gathered by the investigators. We have got evidence of how he opened his e-mail accounts and how he operated them. All this evidence has been gathered painstakingly by the investigators. This can throw more light on several crucial aspects of Headley's operations and his training at Lashkar camps in Pakistan,” the sources said.

Posted in: National News