'Don't delay the Mumbai operations,' Lashkar-e-Tayyeba chief Hafiz Saeed told 26/11 plotter David Headley while also acting as marriage counsellor to him.
This is part of new evidence India gave Pakistan last week during Union home minister P. Chidambaram's visit.
Following a
complaint from Headley's wife, Saeed tried to mediate. Headley told Saeed that if he were to commit more time to his wife, the Mumbai operations would be delayed. But the LeT chief said that was not acceptable, according to Headley's narration to National Investigation Agency (NIA) agents who interviewed him in Chicago early this month.
Government sources told HT Headley answered calmly, without any trace of remorse."He's a thorough professional trained by several agencies including the ISI and LeT. And he acted like one," the sources said.
Headley told the sleuths the LeT had more plans to carry out terror strikes in India.
The NIA officers played out the recordings of conversations between the Mumbai terrorists and their handlers in Karachi, and Headley identified each one of the voices and gave graphic descriptions of their appearance and behaviour. He also identified them from photographs shown to him, some of them extracted from his computer by the FBI.
Abu Kafa, Sajid Mir and Abu Alkame were named as the three people instructing the terrorists on the phone during the attacks.
India has given Pakistan photographs of all three, their descriptions and rough coordinates of their locations.
The sources said India is waiting for some action based on this evidence.
Headley himself wasn't among the handlers, though he was in Karachi at the time of the attacks. Headley had video-graphed the targets but didn't brief the attackers, sources said. He, however, did meet and talk to some of the terrorists — including Ajmal Kasab.
Headley also had intimate knowledge of LeT activities, its handlers and supporters.
He told the NIA agents Saeed took great interest in the details of the Mumbai operations.