Mumbai attacks co-accused David Headley, who scouted Shiv Sena headquarters, on Tuesday testified that there was a plot involving his handlers in Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI, and terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba to assassinate Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
Giving his testimony on the second day of the trial of 26/11 co-accused Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian of Pakistani origin, Headley, a Pakistani-American, talked about the hatred against the Shiv Sena among his Pakistani handlers. Headley, who has pleaded guilty, also told the jury how he gave details about the potential landing sites in Mumbai to his handlers. According to Headley, his Pakistani handlers — Maj. Iqbal of the ISI, Sajid Mir of the LeT, Pasha, Rana and himself shared their hatred of Shiv Sena and they thought it a terrorist outfit. Federal prosecutors are trying to prove that Headley had direct communications with Rana and his handlers in Pakistan. Questioning his links with the Sena, the prosecutors are bringing in communication between Headley and Reggie (the PRO of Uddhav Thackeray, son of Bal Thackeray), which Headley describes as an effort to penetrate the Shiv Sena. —PTI