Mumbai : Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley is singing like a canary. On the third day of his deposition, he made a startling revelation claiming that former Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had visited his house in December 2008, just a few weeks after the 26/11 attack.
In response to grilling by Abdul Wahab Khan, the defense counsel for Abu Jundal, Headley said, “The then Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani did not attend my father’s funeral but, yes, after a few days he visited my home.”
During the cross examination, he also informed the court that his father was a Director General in the Pakistani Radio who died on December 25, 2008. He also revealed that several others of his relatives also worked for the Pakistani government, including his step-brother Daniel Gilani who was working as a PRO in the then Prime Minister’s office.
When asked whether he had divulged his links with the terror outfit LeT to his father and step-brother Daniel, Headley replied, “My father knew about my association with the LeT. He objected to my involvement with them but my brother Daniel lived in a different city, so he did not know anything about it.”
ISHRAT JAHAN: The answers given by Headley on the alleged Laskhar-e-Taiba operative Ishrat Jahan contradicted the revelations he had made in the earlier examination by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.
During his examination by Nikam in February, Headley had revealed that the LeT has a women’s wing which is headed by the mother of Muzammil. He had also revealed that Ishrat Jahan was a suicide bomber and had visited India as she wanted to kill the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and also wanted to destroy the Akshardham Temple in the state.
But contradicting these statements on Friday, Headley said, “I do not know whether LeT has a women’s wing and a suicide bomber wing.” He informed the court that the FBI never asked him about Ishrat Jahan but it was the Indian outfit, the National Investigations Agency, which asked him about Ishrat. But he clarified that the NIA did not doctor his testimony; neither did they inform him that she was gunned down by the cops in Gujarat.
Commenting on Headley’s fresh disclosures, the defense counsel said, “Headley’s statements on Ishrat Jahan are contradictory and he is trying to mislead the court. But I am making an attempt to bring out that Headley is an unreliable person and cannot be pardoned for his involvement in the Mumbai attacks and he should be given the appropriate punishment.”
When asked about why he is not asking questions regarding Abu Jundal’s involvement in the 26/11 incident, Wahab Khan said, “Headley never took my client’s name in his previous testimony, so there is no point in asking questions regarding Jundal.” Jundal is the prime accused in the 26/11 case.
