Fresh warrants against Headley, 8 others

A Delhi court Tuesday issued fresh non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against nine men, including Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley who is currently in a US jail, for involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma issued the warrants against Headley and eight other Pakistanis including Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

Besides Headley and Rana, fresh NBWs were also issued against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, 26/11 attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Pakistan Army officials Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali, top Al-Qaida operative Illyas Kashmiri, Headley's handler Sajid Malik and former Pakistani Army officer Abdul Rehman Hashmi.

The court's direction came after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) moved an application and informed it that these accused were absconding and the warrants issued against them earlier had not been executed yet.

The agency informed the court the chargesheet had already been filed.

On Dec 24, 2011, the NIA chargesheeted nine accused for allegedly entering into a conspiracy with members of banned terror outfits LeT and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) to commit terrorist acts in India.

The NIA chargesheeted them for planning and executing terror strikes in India, including the Mumbai attack. The court had taken cognisance of the chargesheet.