India on Sunday ruled out handing over Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist caught during the 26/11 strikes or his associate Fahim Ansari to Pakistan, saying “justice” was taking its course in the case.
“We are trying Kasab and others here in India following the Mumbai attacks,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said, when asked about Pakistan approaching Interpol for arresting Kasab and Ansari for trial there.
“The case against Kasab has proceeded over the past few months. The verdict is expected by May 3,” she said.
Showing posts with label David Headley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Headley. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Headley to plead guilty before U.S. court on March 18
Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, a LeT operative charged with conspiring in the Mumbai terror strike, will plead guilty before a US court on Thursday, five months after he was arrested by the FBI.
A court notice said a “change of plea” hearing has been set on Thursday scheduling David Coleman Headley before US District Judge Harry Leinenweber. A routine status hearing was scheduled for Headley on March 23.
“Yes, he (Headley) will plead guilty,” John Theis, Headley’s lawyer, told PTI when asked if his client is changing his not-guilty plea.
“I expect that is what is going to happen on March 18,” Theis said.
He, however, declined to comment on whether Headley would be pleading guilty to all or some of the charges in the 12-count superseding indictment filed against him on January 14.
The 49-year-old Headley is charged with conspiring in the Mumbai terror strike and planning attack on a Danish newspaper which published a cartoon on Prophet Mohammad.
The son of a Pakistani diplomat and a Philadelphia socialite, Headley had so far pleaded not guilty to the charges and has remained in federal custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre here since he was arrested in October 2009.
Theis refused to give any details when asked whether a plea deal has been worked out for Headley, who has been “cooperating in the ongoing investigation“.
If convicted, Headley faces maximum penalty of life imprisonment or death.
Theis said: “We have had discussions with the government regarding the plea bargain. We are working on it and we expect there will be a plea agreement.”
However, Headley’s cooperation in the investigation is seen as a way to escape death penalty.
Spokesman for Chicago US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald, Randall Samborn said Headley would be present in court for the March 18 hearing.
Samborn too declined to comment on what charges Headley would be pleading guilty to.
In the 12 count indictment, Headley, a 49 year old Chicago resident, faces six counts of conspiracy involving bombing public places in India, murdering and maiming persons in India and Denmark, providing material support to foreign terrorist plots, providing material support to Lashkar and six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of US citizens in India.
The FBI had also charged Headley’s friend from a Pakistani military school, city-businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana with providing material support to the Mumbai attacks as well as to the terrorist organisation LeT.
Pakistani-Canadian Rana has pleaded not guilty to the charges and said that he was duped by Headley.
Rana has been denied bail by the court and is held at the Correctional centre since his October arrest. A hearing for his case has been set for March 29.
Headley was first arrested in 1998 for conspiring to smuggle heroin into the US from Pakistan. However, after his arrest he cooperated with the investigation, giving information about his involvement in drug trafficking and his Pakistani suppliers.
Due to his cooperation, he was sentenced to less than two years in prison and shortly thereafter went to Pakistan to conduct undercover surveillance operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
In 2002 and 2003, Headley allegedly attended terrorism training camps in Pakistan maintained by Lashkar and conspired with its members and others, including co-accused Rana, Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman in planning and executing the attacks on India and a Danish newspaper.
He conducted extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai between September 2006 and July 2008, taking photographs and making videotapes of various potential targets, including those attacked in the November 2008 attacks that killed approximately 164 people and left hundreds more injured.
After every trip to India, Headley allegedly travelled to Pakistan to share videos and photographs of the targets in India with Lashkar members.
A court notice said a “change of plea” hearing has been set on Thursday scheduling David Coleman Headley before US District Judge Harry Leinenweber. A routine status hearing was scheduled for Headley on March 23.
“Yes, he (Headley) will plead guilty,” John Theis, Headley’s lawyer, told PTI when asked if his client is changing his not-guilty plea.
“I expect that is what is going to happen on March 18,” Theis said.
He, however, declined to comment on whether Headley would be pleading guilty to all or some of the charges in the 12-count superseding indictment filed against him on January 14.
The 49-year-old Headley is charged with conspiring in the Mumbai terror strike and planning attack on a Danish newspaper which published a cartoon on Prophet Mohammad.
The son of a Pakistani diplomat and a Philadelphia socialite, Headley had so far pleaded not guilty to the charges and has remained in federal custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre here since he was arrested in October 2009.
Theis refused to give any details when asked whether a plea deal has been worked out for Headley, who has been “cooperating in the ongoing investigation“.
If convicted, Headley faces maximum penalty of life imprisonment or death.
Theis said: “We have had discussions with the government regarding the plea bargain. We are working on it and we expect there will be a plea agreement.”
However, Headley’s cooperation in the investigation is seen as a way to escape death penalty.
Spokesman for Chicago US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald, Randall Samborn said Headley would be present in court for the March 18 hearing.
Samborn too declined to comment on what charges Headley would be pleading guilty to.
In the 12 count indictment, Headley, a 49 year old Chicago resident, faces six counts of conspiracy involving bombing public places in India, murdering and maiming persons in India and Denmark, providing material support to foreign terrorist plots, providing material support to Lashkar and six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of US citizens in India.
The FBI had also charged Headley’s friend from a Pakistani military school, city-businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana with providing material support to the Mumbai attacks as well as to the terrorist organisation LeT.
Pakistani-Canadian Rana has pleaded not guilty to the charges and said that he was duped by Headley.
Rana has been denied bail by the court and is held at the Correctional centre since his October arrest. A hearing for his case has been set for March 29.
Headley was first arrested in 1998 for conspiring to smuggle heroin into the US from Pakistan. However, after his arrest he cooperated with the investigation, giving information about his involvement in drug trafficking and his Pakistani suppliers.
Due to his cooperation, he was sentenced to less than two years in prison and shortly thereafter went to Pakistan to conduct undercover surveillance operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
In 2002 and 2003, Headley allegedly attended terrorism training camps in Pakistan maintained by Lashkar and conspired with its members and others, including co-accused Rana, Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman in planning and executing the attacks on India and a Danish newspaper.
He conducted extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai between September 2006 and July 2008, taking photographs and making videotapes of various potential targets, including those attacked in the November 2008 attacks that killed approximately 164 people and left hundreds more injured.
After every trip to India, Headley allegedly travelled to Pakistan to share videos and photographs of the targets in India with Lashkar members.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
26/11: arguments to begin from March 9
The special sessions court trying the Mumbai terror attacks case on Tuesday proposed March 9 as the date for starting the final arguments. Judge M.L. Tahaliyani, however, said the date would be officially declared on Wednesday.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam is slated to open his argument, followed by Defence Lawyer K.P. Pawar for Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, and lawyers for the other two accused — Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed.
Khalid Azmi, the brother of Ansari’s lawyer Shahid Azmi — who was murdered earlier this month — has been appointed to represent the accused. R.B. Mokashi would be the senior counsel arguing Ansari’s case.
Expressing concern over his security, Mr. Azmi requested the court to ban the media from publishing his name. However, the court said there was no law restricting the media from publishing a lawyer’s name.
Mr. Tahaliyani urged the young lawyer to shun his fear. “If lawyers are afraid how will the society survive?” he said.
Mr. Azmi has not yet asked for protection. However, Rakesh Maria, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), told journalists that the advocate would be given protection.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam is slated to open his argument, followed by Defence Lawyer K.P. Pawar for Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, and lawyers for the other two accused — Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed.
Khalid Azmi, the brother of Ansari’s lawyer Shahid Azmi — who was murdered earlier this month — has been appointed to represent the accused. R.B. Mokashi would be the senior counsel arguing Ansari’s case.
Expressing concern over his security, Mr. Azmi requested the court to ban the media from publishing his name. However, the court said there was no law restricting the media from publishing a lawyer’s name.
Mr. Tahaliyani urged the young lawyer to shun his fear. “If lawyers are afraid how will the society survive?” he said.
Mr. Azmi has not yet asked for protection. However, Rakesh Maria, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), told journalists that the advocate would be given protection.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
9 killed, 40 injured in Pune bomb blast
In a major terror strike after the November 26, 2008 carnage in Mumbai, nine persons including four foreigners, all women, were killed and over 40 injured in a bomb blast which ravaged the famous German Bakery on North Main Avenue in Pune's Koregaon Park near the Osho Ashram around 7.30 pm on Saturday. Unofficial figures put the number of injured at 50.
Initially the police said it was a gas cylinder blast, but the explosion is now suspected to be an improvised explosive device (IED) using an ammonium nitrate fuel oil mix, with RDX as a booster, police sources said. About 7 kg explosives may have been used. The bodies were charred beyond recognition. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said preliminary reports indicated that it was a bomb blast.
An eyewitness who was travelling in an autorickshaw said he heard a loud explosion and blacked out. Another eyewitness said bodies were scattered and more than 10 were seen at the site. Four shops were damaged near the bakery, which has been there for 22 years.
The bag containing the bomb was said to be under a table, according to one account, and a waiter is said to have tried to open it. This caused the explosion which devastated the bakery, located near the Jewish Chabad House. A customer said he heard the blast, but escaped unhurt. There were bodies lying all around, he said.
Sources said the bakery was close to a hotel where Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley had stayed while visiting Osho Ashram. However, Headley did not recce this bakery.
Soon after the blast, an unidentified bag was found in an autorickshaw. It contained 7 kg of explosives.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has also reached Pune, apart from forensic experts. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will reach there by Sunday.
The blast has sent shockwaves in Pune, prompting a high alert in Mumbai and other cities in Maharashtra. The police have been asked to look out for unattended baggage.
Joint Commissioner of Police Rajendra Sonawane said that prima facie it looked like a bomb blast.
Congress city president Abhay Chhajed confirmed the number of deaths. "I myself have seen six bodies at the Sassoon Hospital. There are more at other hospitals." He said the injured had been taken to Ruby Hall, Jehangir, Budhrani and Sassoon hospitals in the city.
The bakery is a popular spot with foreign tourists. Six or eight of the injured are said to be foreign nationals.
Mr. Chavan has announced ex gratia payment of Rs. 1 lakh to each of the families of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 for the injured.
Security for the Indian and South African cricket teams has been tightened. The second test match is beginning in Kolkata on Sunday.
Pune MP Suresh Kalmadi said: "I appeal to the people of Pune to be calm. Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe, who is at the site, has confirmed to me that it was bomb blast. Further details are awaited."
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and other leaders have appealed for calm after the incident.
