NIA team grills Headley about 26/11 links

Washington: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team has been questioning Mumbai terror attack accused David Coleman Headley since Thursday.

The team's objective is to question Headley's movements in India and whether he had put in place any sleeper cells in the country. Headley has already pleaded guilty to the 26/11 charges.

Headley is being questioned in the presence of his lawyer John Theis and an FBI official. It is not clear yet as to how many hours or days the Indian team will get to question Headley, but a joint statement is expected once the questioning is through.

The four-member NIA team is headed by 1985-batch IPS officer and Inspector General Loknath Behera, two Superintendents of Police - Sajid Farid Shapoo and Swayam Prakash Pani - and a special public prosecutor.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has said that although Headley is an American citizen fully covered by American laws, Washington must facilitate Indian investigators to grill him for his role in the Mumbai attack.

"In investigations of this kind, which are of a very delicate and sensitive nature, we can not go on spelling out day to day developments of this course. When we are complete with whatever we are embarking upon, then naturally we will be in a position to speak out on this. But, right now, the time is not appropriate," said Krishna.

US National Security Adviser James Jones on Friday said that India has been given access to the Pakistani-American Lashker-e-Toiba operative.

"Yes access (to Headley) has been given. This is an ongoing process and I don't have any detailed information that will be helpful except to say that it is in the hands of right professionals from both countries," Jones told PTI at his White House office.

"We have fulfilled our commitment," he said.

Asked if this access to Headley is going to be one-time affair or whether Indian investigating agencies would be given access multiple times, Jones said: "I don't know but the spirit of cooperation and respect for each others position is alive and well and we have taken the first step, we just have to wait and see whether there is any other request beyond this one."

Incidentally Headley's grilling started on a day when US President Barak Obama said that India is indispensable for the US.