The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team, which visited Mumbai immediately after the November 26, 2008, terror attacks, may have had suspicions about David Coleman Headley’s link to the carnage even at that time.
A senior intelligence official said that reportssuggest that the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative was on the agency’s mind during their last year’s visit to the city. “But the FBI did not reveal anything about Headley to Indian authorities because it was not sure if he was linked to 26/11,” he said.
Headley and his associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana have been on the FBI’s radar since late last year, as indicated by the official complaints made by the agency. “The FBI knew that Headley and Rana were linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and had been travelling in and out of India. The FBI’s visit to India would have given them an opportunity to tighten the noose around the duo,” a senior Mumbai police officer said.
However, the FBI has so far not told the Indian investigators whether they found anything on Headley and Rana during their post-26/11 visit. In fact, Indian investigators who had gone to the US were not allowed to meet or question the duo.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has already registered a case against Headley and Rana for allegedly planning a 26/11-like attack in India. The Indian agency is also probing whether the duo had direct or indirect links to 26/11.
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