“In or around June 2006, defendant (Headley) travelled to Chicago and met with co-defendant Rana. Defendant advised co-defendant Rana of his assignment in India, and explained that opening an office for First World Immigration (a company run by Rana) would provide a cover for his activities.
“Following defendant’s explanation, Rana agreed to open an immigration office in Mumbai, India, and provide assistance to defendant’s activities. Rana further advised defendant on how to obtain a visa for his travel to India,” the plea agreement between Headley and the US government said.
It said after receiving Rana’s approval, Headley travelled back to Pakistan and met Lashkar leaders ‘A’ and ‘D’, among others, on several occasions.
Rana had agreed to the the use of such a cover for his activities. “Defendant also showed them the visa that he had obtained with Rana’s assistance,” the agreement said.
It said Headley kept meeting Rana in between and updated him about his surveillance of possible terror targets including Taj Mahal hotels and landing sites for the terrorists.
He also kept Rana informed about the reaction of his Pakistani handlers.
Over the course of a few days around the end of May 2008, Headley met Rana in Chicago and told him about the extensive surveillance that he had conducted in Mumbai and the meetings that he had with various co-conspirators.
Headley selected Mumbai landing sites
Chicago, PTI :
LeT operative David Coleman Headley had taken boat trips around the Mumbai harbour in April 2008 and stored information of possible landing sites in a GPS device later used by the LeT to carry out the 26/11 terror attacks, court documents reveal.
In a meeting with co-conspirators in Pakistan around March 2008, Headley discussed potential landing sites in Mumbai for a team of attackers that would arrive by sea, the plea agreement that was submitted in a court here states.
“Following the discussion, Headley returned to Mumbai with a global positioning system device and performed the surveillance, including taking boat trips in and around the Mumbai harbour and entering locations in the GPS device,” the agreement read.
After returning to Pakistan, Headley again met various co-conspirators and advised them about the potential landing sites. During these meetings, he learned that attack plans were being delayed, in part, “to wait for when the sea was calmer”. Headley returned to Mumbai in July 2008 and conducted extensive video surveillance of various targets, “including the Taj Mahal Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel, the Chabad House, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station.
