26/11: Court issues warrant against Headley, 8 others

A court here Monday issued fresh warrants against nine men, including Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley who is currently in a US jail, for involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

District Judge at Patiala House Court I.S. Mehta issued the non-bailable warrants against Headley and eight other Pakistanis, including Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

The court has fixed the matter for April 14 for further hearing, sources said.

Besides Headley and Rana, fresh NBWs were also issued against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafeez Saeed, 26/11 attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Pakistan Army officials Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali, top Al Qaeda operative Illyas Kashmiri, Headley's handler Sajid Malik and former Pakistani Army officer Abdul Rehman Hashmi.

The court's direction came after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) informed it that these accused were absconding and the warrants issued against them earlier had not been executed yet.

On Dec 24, 2011, the NIA charge sheeted the nine accused for allegedly entering into a conspiracy with members of banned terror outfits LeT and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) to commit terrorist acts in India.

The NIA charge sheeted them for planning and executing terror strikes in India, including the Mumbai attack. The court had taken cognisance of the charge sheet.