NIA asked to get consent of terror suspects for polygraph test

Sanjeev Kumar
New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency
was Monday asked by a Delhi court to get the consent of Mumbai
and south Indian state Kerala-based terrors suspects, alleged
aides of David Coleman Headley, for their lie-detection tests
in connection with plotting the Mumbai 26/11 attack and other
strikes in India from 2005 to 2009.
"Since all the accused are from Mumbai and Kerala, let
the Investigation Officer (IO) file on record the willingness
of these persons to undergo the polygraph tests before asking
them to appear in this court to ascertain their willingness,"
District and Sessions Judge S P Garg said.
The NIA, in its plea filed through Superintendent of
Police Swayam Prakash Pani, provided the court the names of
some Indian terror suspects in a sealed envelope and requested
their identities be not revealed.
The move to conduct polygraph (lie detection) tests on
the accused assumed significance as the NIA has recently
secured NBWs against two serving Pakistani Army Majors and
three LeT operatives.
The NIA, in its application, said "the notices may be
issued to the persons (mentioned in the sealed cover) so that
they may be present before this court in an in-camera
proceeding... so that their consent could be sought by the NIA
and, if given, duly recorded by the court".
The probe agency, in the FIR lodged on November 11
last year, has made American of Pakistani origin Headley,
Tawahoor Rana, Canadian national also of Pakistani origin, who
are now in the custody of FBI, Mumbai terror mastermind Hafiz
Sayeed, LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, two
Pakistani officers Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali along with
Lashkar operatives Sajid Majid, Syed Abdur Rehman and Illyas
Kashmiri as accused.
The accused are wanted in connection with terror attacks
in Mumbai, Delhi and other places during 2005 to 2009.

Initially, NIA had sought issuance of NBWs against all
the nine accused, including Headley and Tawahoor Rana for
getting the Red Corner Notices (RCN) issued against them by
the Interpol.
However, the plea against Headley and Rana was later
withdrawn by NIA on the ground that one of them has been duly
interrogated by it and they are in custody of the US with whom
India has an extradition treaty.
The court did not issue NBWs against Lakhvi and Sayeed on
the ground that a Mumbai court had already issued the warrants
in the 26/11 terror attack case and it would be sufficient for
issuing RCN against them.
The court, while allowing the plea, had considered
Headley's statement, recorded at Illinois in the US by the
NIA in which he had categorically disclosed the involvement of
these accused in the terrorist activities.
The judge had issued NBWs against Major Iqbal and Major
Sameer Ali along with Lashkar operatives Sajid Majid, Syed
Abdur Rehman and Illyas Kashmiri.
Headley was arrested by FBI in Chicago in October last
year and has been lodged in a detention centre there. PTI SJK
KAB