New Delhi:
Evidence collected by India establishes that David Headley was part of the terrorist team that planned and helped execute 26/11. Headley was also planning newer, bigger strikes in different cities, possibly simultaneously, when he was arrested by the FBI in October in Chicago.
Sources tell NDTV that what's clear now is that each time Headley visited India between 2006 and 2009, India witnessed terror attacks in the form of blasts in cities like Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
What is alarming for India is that the coincidence between Headley's trips and these blasts was not detected by intelligence agencies. Also, his regular travel between India and Pakistan did not lead to any checks, even though Headley often flew directly from India to Lahore and Karachi.
Twenty agencies are working in different parts of India, retracing Headley's steps through phone and travel records. They're focusing on finding sleeper cells of terrorists who Headley may have created, or worked with, to plan new attacks within India.
Headley was arrested after the FBI intercepted his emails which established that he was planning terror attacks in India with members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba. His associate in these plans was Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian, who has also been arrested.
Rana owned an immigration agency. Headley and he travelled all over India posing as immigration agents. They surveyed the four places attacked in Mumbai during 26/11. India believes they took photographs and videos of these targets and provided them to Ajmal Kasab and the nine other Pakistanis who unleashed India's worst terror attack on 26/11. Both Headley and Rana were in Pakistan during 26/11.