David Headley was asked by Pakistan's ISI to recruit spies from Indian Army

Mumbai: Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley said on Tuesday that terror outfits LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen were given "financial" and "military" support by the ISI as he made fresh revelations including about an aborted plan to target Indian defence scientists and famous Siddhivinayak temple.

On the second day of his deposition through videoconferencing from a US jail before the Special TADA Court here, Headley said he was tasked with luring spies from the Indian Army to work for Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). 

In his response to questions posed by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, Headley admitted to working both for the LeT and the ISI.

He named three officials of the Pakistan army and ISI - Colonel Shah, Lt Colonel Hamza and Major Samir Ali - besides retired army officer Abdul Rehman Pasha who was closely working with LeT and Al-Qaeda.

Headley said his assessment was that ISI and LeT were coordinating with each other.

"ISI provides financial, military and moral support to terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed, LeT and Hizbul Mujaideen," he said, even though he claimed that his opinion was formed on the basis of hearsay, as per PTI.

Detailing the planning for the 26/11 strike, Headley said in November-December 2007 he had attended a meeting in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir along with his LeT contact Sajid Mir and Abu Khafa, in which they asked him to conduct a recce of the Hotel Taj Mahal Palace and other locations in Mumbai.

At the meeting, the LeT leaders gave information about a conference of Indian defence officials and scientists at the luxury hotel opposite Gateway of India which they wanted to hit, Headley told the court of Special Judge G.A. Sanap.

He was specifically asked by his handlers to survey and videograph the second floor of the hotel which he did along with his wife Faiza, selected the landing site for the vessels which would sneak in from the Arabian Sea at Colaba, and discussed everything with Major Iqbal of the Pakistan Army.

Besides Hotel Taj, Headley made videos of Leopold Cafe, Colaba Police Station, the local markets and restaurants in Colaba, the naval and air force stations, the Maharashtra Police headquarters, Hotel Trident-Oberoi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, and the Siddhi Vinayak temple in Prabhadevi.

"Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal were satisfied with the videos and photos of the hotel which I gave them," Headley said, adding that the plan to target Hotel Taj conference hall was later scrapped for "logistics reasons", as per IANS.

All the data and locations were stored in a GPS device for future uses, he added.

(With Agency inputs)