26/11 plotter extensively surveyed the command headquarters in Pune and Sena Bhavan in Delhi in March 2009.
The German Bakery and Osho ashram were smoke screens, Lashkar-e-Taiba operative and 26/11 mastermind David Coleman Headley’s real targets were the Southern Command headquarters in Pune and Sena Bhavan, the army headquarters in Delhi.
Highly-placed home ministry sources said during his March 2009 visits to Pune and Delhi, Headley extensively surveyed the command headquarters and Sena Bhavan. He reportedly studied the security pattern, such as the timing of change of guards and their strength, of these establishments.
He also conducted a detailed recce of the National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla near Pune. All details, including videos, were then sent to his Pakistan handlers.
The new light on Headley’s activities in India was shed by the FBI. The Pune blast probe also provided some leads.
The home ministry has claimed that the SIT probe into the Pune attack is heading in the right direction, but it is also preparing for the next course in the event a breakthrough is not achieved in the next two weeks. The option to handover the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is being weighed.
“NIA personnel are already associated with the investigations being carried out by SIT. We will have to take a decision to handover the case to the premier investigating agency if nothing tangible comes out of the ongoing inquest,” the sources said.
The Indian establishment is likely to pursue the Headley issue more vigorously with the US after Thursday’s Indo-Pak foreign secretary-levels talks. “We will seek more cooperation from the FBI at an appropriate time,” a senior home ministry official said.
The chances of greater cooperation with the FBI on Headley’s interrogation have brightened after its director Robert Mueller met home minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi on Tuesday. “We have already sent four sets of questionnaires regarding Headley to the FBI and have received some response, but more is expected.
The FBI director promised the home minister to give all possible information regarding Headley till the time we seek his extradition, which would be possible only after a charge sheet is filed against him,” the sources said.
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