How Headley's Testimony Confirmed Tahawwur Rana's Involvement to an Indian Court
In 2016, David Headley testified through video link to a special court in Mumbai from a hidden location in the United States.
David Coleman Headley's testimony helped to prove Tahawwur Rana's participation in the conspiracy related to the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. He provided his deposition from an undisclosed site in the US to a special court in Mumbai. The significant individual tied to the attack, who had surveilled the locations beforehand, responded to inquiries from Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and defense attorney Advocate Wahab Khan.
Headley disclosed that he maintained regular contact with Rana and even secured his consent to establish a business office in Mumbai as a cover for his operations. As per the National Investigation Agency's chargesheet, Rana aided Headley and others involved in organizing terrorist attacks in India by providing logistical, financial, and other forms of support.
Rana has already been found guilty in the US due to his association with Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terrorist organization that orchestrated and carried out the assaults from Pakistan. A court in the US found him guilty of assisting in the planning of an attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, but he was exonerated concerning the charges related to the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Nevertheless, his connections with Headley became public knowledge during the trial in Chicago.
During his testimony, Headley addressed Ujjwal Nikam's inquiries regarding the planning and execution of the 26/11 attacks. His statements clarified Tahawwur Rana's role, leaving no ambiguity.
After Rana's conviction in 2009, the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the US stated that he confessed to being aware of Lashkar's status as a terrorist group. "In an October 2009 statement made post-arrest, Rana acknowledged understanding that Lashkar was a terrorist organization, and that Headley participated in training camps operated by Lashkar in Pakistan. Headley testified to attending these camps five different times between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, he received directives from Lashkar members to visit India for reconnaissance, which he carried out five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later, which resulted in over 160 fatalities and numerous injuries," the statement noted.
