Home ministry disappointed with US intelligence sharing

Barely a week before US President Barrack Obama’s India visit, home ministry officials today said security agencies were disappointed with the US government for not sharing information about Pakistani-American national David Headley — one of the key conspirators in the 26/11 attack on Mumbai.

Headley, a key operative of the banned Pakistani terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayeba (LeT), had provided detailed information on possible targets before the 10 Pakistani gunmen carried out strikes across the city in 2008.

“We were disappointed that the name of David Headley was not provided to us. If not before the terror strike at least the name could have been made known post 26/11,” Home Secretary G K Pillai told reporters.

According to recent reports, one of the two wives of Headley had told US authorities that he was planning to carry out attacks in India and was working with a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation much before the terror strikes in Mumbai.

Intelligence agencies believe if the US administration had shared the information on Headley after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, they could have nabbed him in India in March 2009 when he had visited the country.

“When Headley came in March 2009 at least at that time we could have nabbed him here if the information was shared with Indian authorities,” said Pillai.

Headley had recced the places, providing detailed video clippings to the LeT-trained terrorists in Pakistan. More than 166 people were killed in the 60-hour-long gun fight. The home secretary said Indian authorities would appreciate a steady flow of information from US agencies than what is being provided at present. “I would appreciate if it had been much more than what they have been doing,” said Pillai while answering a question on whether the US administration was not forthcoming in sharing information with India.

Recent media reports in the US suggest that Headley’s American wife had told the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2005 that he was working for LeT.