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Journalism of Courage
A day after American prosecutors filed new federal charges accusing American terror suspect David Coleman Headley of conducting extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai for more than two years preceding the 26/11 terror strikes,Indian authorities have decided to file a supplementary chargesheet naming Headley in the ongoing trial of the Mumbai terror attacks. Mumbai Polices Crime Branch will file this additional chargesheet.
In the days following Headleys arrest in Chicago,Indian authorities had maintained that enough evidence had surfaced linking Headley to the November 26,2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. Following the fresh charges levied against Headley in Chicago and the visiting FBI team having briefed Indian authorities about Headleys five trips to Mumbai (in September 2006,February and September 2007,April and July 2008),during which he is believed to have taken photographs and video recordings of various targets in Mumbai,many of which were eventually attacked during 26/11,all the evidence connecting Headley with the terror strikes will now be filed in the supplementary chargesheet,sources said.
Sources said India will push to secure access to Headley following the revelations made in the new federal charges filed in Chicago which clearly connect him to the Mumbai attacks.
The charges are expected to add a new dimension to the 26/11 trial that is nearing completion. Under Section 173 (8) of the Criminal Procedure Code,the Crime Branch has the liberty to move an application before Special Sessions Judge M L Tahaliyani,who is hearing the trial,for conducting further investigations. The police can then seek a Letter Rogatory from the court that can be used for getting access to the FBIs investigations reports on Headley.
Chief Public Prosecutor for the CBI,Ejaz Khan,said,Once the Mumbai Police is satisfied about Headleys involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks,they would move an application for making him an accused in the case.
The prosecutions case against arrested accused Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed,both Indians accused of having done the groundwork for the attack,will come under the scanner in the light of the new charges against Headley.
FIR on Karkares missing bullet-proof jacket
Mumbai: The Mumbai Police have filed an FIR at J J Marg police station on the missing bullet-proof jacket of former Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare. Following a complaint filed by an activist,Santosh Daundkar,in the Mazgaon Metropolitan magistrate court,Metropolitan Magistrate R K Malabade in an order on Monday,directed the senior inspector of J J Marg police station to conduct a probe and submit a report by January 30,2010. ENS
