Mumbai: Pakistani-American terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley on Saturday claimed that National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not record his statements on various aspects of the 26/11 investigations in his ‘exact’ words.
Speaking via video-conferencing from an unknown place in the US on the fourth day of his ongoing cross-examination before a Mumbai special court, he said NIA recorded his statements in words different from what he had told them. For instance, he (Headley) never said that when LeT cheif Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi introduced him to Muzammil Bhatt in, he (Lakhvi) referred to him (Bhatt) sarcastically that he was top commander whose every major operation had failed.
Headley said that he did not seek a copy of his statement nor was it provided to him by the NIA, raising serious doubts on the manner in which NIA recorded his statement.
"I cannot explain why NIA did not did not record my statement in my exact words... They never read out the statement to me after recording... I did not ask for the copy and they never gave me a copy," he said.
When he was shown a copy of his statement to NIA, Headley said that he was seeing it first time, but admitted that he had told NIA about an LeT women's wing which was headed by the mother of Abu Aiman.
Headley referred to certain statements he made to the NIA on the former terror group LeT commander Muzammil Bhatt and Thane collegian Ishrat Jahan who was killed in an encounter by Gujarat Police along with three other male friends near Ahmedabad in 2004.
Headley made the startling revelation during his cross-examination before Special Judge GA Sanap by lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan, who is defending Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, one of the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes.
