US may not part with Headley

The US is unlikely to give India fresh access to 26/11 terror plotter David Coleman Headley, but is ready to explore ways to send his accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana to New Delhi for interrogation.

On the sideline of the India-US Strategic Dialogue, a two-member delegation of American Government led by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz met Home Secretary R K Singh at his North Block office on Monday.

They are understood to have discussed the possibilities of having access for custodial interrogation of Lashkar e Toiba terrorist David Headley and his associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who are wanted by India’s National Investigation Agency for their roles in plotting the November 26, 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid co-chaired the fourth strategic dialogue in New Delhi on Monday.   While the US authorities seem to be open to discussion to explore possibilities of bringing Rana to Delhi for interrogation, they are not inclined to giving second access to Headley, owing to fears that Lashkar terrorist’s interrogation might reveal details of his espionage activities at the behest of Washington-based intelligence agencies.