Wanted access to Sena Bhawan, thought LeT would want to kill party chief in future: Headley

Mumbai: Unravelling the sinister plan, Pakistani-American terrorist and 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks convict Daood Gilani alias David Coleman Headley on Friday told a special court that he was interested in developing close relations with a Shiv Sena member as he thought that Lashkar-e-Toiba would be interested in future to either attack Sena Bhawan or assassinate its head.

Headley said that he met Sena worker Rajaram Rege inside the Sena Bhavan and started to develop relationship after the first meeting.

Headley, who scouted the Sena headquarters in Central Mumbai, had informed a US court in 2011 that he and his LeT handler Sajid Mir discussed killing Shiv Sainiks and a plot to kill Bal Thackeray.

Earlier, Headley had described Rege as Shiv Sena PRO, but the party had said that it does not have any post like that.

Headley, who is deposing before a Mumbai court via video conferencing from an undisclosed location in the US, has disclosed the relationship between the Pakistan's Inter-State Intelligence (ISI) service and LeT. He also named the people behind the terror strike in Mumbai from November 26-28, 2008 in which 166 people were killed.

Headley told that court that LeT was unhappy that Mumbai airport was not selected and included as one of the targets in attack.

Headley said that he discouraged LeT from selecting Siddhivinayak temple and Naval air station for the strike as then the 10 attackers would have to concentrate on those targets only as both the sites are heavily guarded.

Headley, who had also recced Siddhivinayak Temple, added that he had purchased red and yellow sacred threads from the temple as a cover for the 10 attackers so that people would think they were Hindus.

Headley had earlier told the court that he recced India seven times before the attack and once after that. Headley said that LeT leader Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi had emphasised that surveillance for 26/11 attacks should be done properly as this was a chance "to take revenge for all bomb blasts India had done in the past" in Pakistan.

Lakhvi wanted landing site to be Gateway of India as it's close to Hotel Taj Mahal Palace, Headley added.

Headley revealed that Major Iqbal of ISI had tasked him with recruiting a Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) employee to gather classified information for the intelligence agency. He added that he visited and videographed BARC in July 2008.