26/11: letter rogatory yet to be sent to Italy

A letter rogatory issued by a local court last month is being processed by the Centre and is yet to be forwarded to Italy. “The letter rogatory issued by the court will enable us to gather evidence on the two suspects arrested in Italy for their alleged role in 26/11 attacks. It is being processed in New Delhi. It will then be forwarded to the Italian court by the concerned authorities. Only then we will be able to get details of the arrests made by the Italian police,” said a senior Crime Branch officer on condition of anonymity.

The two suspects,father-son duo Mohammad Yaqub Janjua (60) and Aamer Yaqub Janjua (31),were arrested in the Italian city of Brescia on November 21. The duo had allegedly transferred US$229 in the name of one Javed Iqbal from Madina Trading Company in Brescia to a New Jersey-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider,Callphonex,through Western Union Money transfer. The Callphonex VoIP platform was used by the 26/11 attackers to communicate with their handlers in Pakistan .

After keeping a watch on the suspects’ movements,the Italian police nabbed the duo on their arrival from Pakistan. They had fled to Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks.

On November 26,Metropolitan Magistrate V V Bhambarde had ordered a letter rogatory to be sent to the judicial magistrate in Italy through diplomatic channels under section 166A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The Mumbai Crime Branch had also sent a list of queries related to the investigation.

Meanwhile,the Crime Branch is collating investigation reports and relevant case papers in an attempt to submit a request before the court for another letter rogatory. According to sources,it would help the Crime Branch access the information gleaned from the alleged Lashkar operatives,David Headley and Tahawwur Rana,arrested in Chicago by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

“At present,we are drafting the request for the letter rogatory. This will take some time,” said the officer.

On December 7,the FBI had filed new charges directly linking Headley to the 26/11 attacks. According to the FBI,Headley “conducted extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai for more than two years preceding the November 2008 terrorist attacks.”

After completing its investigations on these two aspects of the terror plot,the Crime Branch is expected to file a supplementary chargesheet in the 26/11 attacks case.