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After Headley Plea, India to Get Pak to Act against 26/11 Handlers

After guilty plea by Pakistani-born American national David Coleman Headley to all 12 charges, including 26/11 attacks, in a Chicago court, India intends to mount pressure on Pakistan to initiate action against those involved in the attacks, said media reports.

The Indian security establishment opines that confession of the charges by Headley is ‘unequivocal ratification’ of country’s stand pertaining to involvement of state and non-state actors based in Pakistan in terrorist activities in India, in particular Mumbai terror attacks, reports said.

Indian authorities are satisfied as Headley agreed to ‘fully and truthfully testify in any foreign judicial proceedings held in the US by way of deposition, video-conferencing or letters rogatory’, reports said.

However, they are divided in their opinion if Indian sleuths will actually get access to Headley for interrogation, said reports.

Reports said quoting unnamed sources that India would ‘carefully examine’ the US law to see if it was possible.

“All that I can say is that it is going to be a long-drawn process,” a senior official associated with the case was quoted as saying.

Citing sources reports said that Indian establishment believed that inputs given by Headley would turn out to be deciding factor in India’s case against Pakistan-based handlers of the Mumbai attackers.

By agreeing to testify by video conferencing – something that is allowed in India under the Indian Evidence Act and the Criminal Procedure Code – Headley has provided Indian investigators the option to further strengthen their case against the still-at-large Pakistan handlers.

In the meanwhile, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram refuted the charge of opposition parties that the development in the case was a ‘setback’, said reports.

“We will continue with our plea for extradition of Headley,” he was quoted as saying.

He said that the US had provided ‘significant amount of information’ on Headley’s activities but many questions remained unanswered and India wanted replies to these, said reports.

On the possibility of Headley’s extradition to India, he said it would be difficult as he is accused of committing crimes in the US as well.

(Based on internet reports)

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