Access to Headley: India to send new team to US

New Delhi, May 1 (PTI) All bottlenecks have been
removed and a new team will be sent to the US to pursue the
matter of India's access to David Headley, who has confessed
to his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, Solicitor
General Gopal Subramanium said on Saturday.
"...All the bottlenecks are removed and we have a way
forward. So it's up to us to operationalise the plan forward,"
Subramanium told reporters here.
The law officer, who met his US counterparts said,
"Once we are ready to constitute our team, and get off board
from India, the access should be possible."
He was asked as to how early India could access to
Headley.
He appreciated the "unstinted cooperation" from the US
authorities and said he had a "very fruitful" round of
discussions with American authorities.
Subramaniam's five-day visit was primarily aimed at
understanding the US legal system within which India could get
access to Headley, a Pakistani-American national, sources
said.
He discussed with officials of the US Justice Department
modalities for access to Headley, a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative,
in an appropriate legal format.
India wants to question Headley in a manner that his
statement would be acceptable in a court of law here. In this
regard, a chargesheet would also be required to be filed
against Headley in India.
Headley, who was arrested in October last, has entered
into a plea bargain with the US government wherein he has
offered to be available to foreign investigators through
deposition, video conferencing or letters rogatory.
Subramaniam had earlier advised the government to settle
for nothing less than Headley's extradition to ensure his
thorough custodial interrogation.
Headley has told his America interrogators that he had
several times conducted recce for the Mumbai attacks. He has
also revealed that a serving Pakistani Army Major had given
training to him in Pakistan. PTI