26/11: Statements of key witnesses recorded

The NIA has recorded statements of some of the key witnesses in the US in connection with the larger conspiracy hatched by David Coleman Headley and others to carry out terror strikes in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

The NIA has recorded statements of some of the key witnesses in the US in connection with the larger conspiracy hatched by David Coleman Headley and others to carry out terror strikes in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

The statements were recorded with the help of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Department of Justice in about 10 days, sources said.

The NIA declined to comment on the issue citing its non-disclosure clause with the FBI. However, NIA was pressing for recording statements of witnesses like Headley’s wife Shahzia Gilani and some attorneys who helped Headley to open an immigration office in India along with a few of his female friends.

Headley, 53, is at present undergoing 35 years of imprisonment on various counts including involvement in the conspiracy to carry out the audacious attacks in Mumbai that left 166 people dead.

The statements will help NIA to strengthen charges filed before a Delhi court in 2012 against top Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders alleged to have been involved in organising the strikes.

The process of recording of statements had been stalled for the last four years as America refused to have Indian investigators present during the exercise. The matter stands resolved now.