Published On : Sat, Mar 26th, 2016

No first hand knowledge of Ishrat, NIA falsely recorded my statement: Headley

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Mumbai: Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley on Saturday said that he did not have first hand knowledge of LeT operative Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter.

“Yes, I did tell NIA that the female LeT operator who died was Ishrat. I told them there was a women’s wing in LeT which was headed by Abu Aiman’s mother. The said woman was an Indian national. I have read about Ishrat in newspapers,” Headley said.

Headley told a Mumbai court that he had told the National Investigation Agency(NIA) about Ishrat Jahan. However, defence lawyer in the case later claimed that he did not talk to NIA about Ishrat.

He also said that the NIA falsely recorded his statements regarding 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
In February, Headley revealed that Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat, was a Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist.

During his deposition, he referred to a woman killed in a police encounter on Indian soil. When he was given three names, he claimed that the name of the woman was Ishrat Jahan. Ishrat’s family, since the encounter took place in 2004, has been alleging that it was a botched up operation by the Gujarat Police.

The 55-year-old LeT operative-turned approver in the case is being cross-examined by Abdul Wahab Khan, the lawyer of Abu Jundal, an alleged key plotter of the 2008 Mumbai siege, via a video-link from the US.