India plans to send panel to US to get evidence from Headley

New Delhi, Feb 13 (PTI) India is contemplating sending
a commission to the United States for getting evidence from
Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley and his wife, who has
been kept away from Indian investigators so far.
The National Investigation Agency, which is probing
the case, also plans to file a charge sheet soon against the
Pakistani-American terrorist who is accused of having done
recce of targets before the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Indian Union Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai said a
Commission may even be sent to the United States for getting
evidence, may be from Headley, his wife and from other people,
for which it would talk to the US authorities.
"We need to get evidence fully on board. We cannot
call them here because the request for examining his wife is
still pending with the US government. We have not received any
response yet," he said in an interaction with PTI journalists.
Pillai said when an NIA team had visited the US to
question Headley, the examination was done under particular
circumstances.
"It has no evidential value. It was just a statement,
not in the presence of a magistrate... signed or sealed. It is
just a hearsay statement. We have to make it into an
evidential statement," he said.
Asked whether India would seek permission from the US
to send the Commission, he said "Yes, that is the legal
process which is required. Once the charge sheet is filed, it
will be done".
After filing the charge sheet, the government would
take permission from the court to send a commission to
Pakistan also to question those involved who helped Headley
and was giving directions to ten terrorists.
The terrorists carried out the worst ever terror
attack in India that killed 179 people.
Asked whether the US authorities should have taken
into confidence the Indian agencies before entering a plea
bargain agreement with Headley as India was the place of his
terror acts, Pillai said "oh yes, no doubt about that".
"We made it very clear to the US, during discussion
level, that they entered into an agreement with David Headley
saying that he would not be extradited to India and plea
bargain and so on and so forth, on something where not only
Indians but Americans were killed," he said.
50-year-old Headley, pleaded guilty to all the 12
terror charges of conspiracy involving terror acts in India,
and entered into plea bargain with US authorities.
Under the plea bargain, Headley would not be
extradited to India, Pakistan or Denmark for any offences for
which he has pleaded guilty.
Pillai said the US court, which had issued summons to
senior ISI officials, including its chief Major General Ahmed
Shuja Pasha, along with 26/11 masterminds and LeT leaders
Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi in response to a lawsuit
filed by relatives of two American victims, would take note of
this fact.
"I am sure it will come up even in the American
court... in the case which was filled by the relatives of the
Rabbi who was killed," he said.
The relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his
wife Rivka, who were gunned down by militants at the Chhabad
House in Mumbai, had filed the 26-page lawsuit before a New
York Court on November 19 accusing the ISI of aiding and
abetting the LeT to carry out the attack.
Following this, the Brooklyn court issued summons to
the accused.