Narrating the startling revelations made by 26/11 conspirator David Coleman Headley, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on Friday said that the former conducted a recce of Mumbai's Siddhivinayak temple and asked the LeT not to attack the shrine as it was heavily guarded.
Nikam said that Headley was asked by Major Iqbal to recruit the people from Baba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in order to collect confidential information from there.
"David Headley has made some new revelations today. He said that he had conducted a recce of BARC and he was asked by Major Iqbal to recruit some people from BARC to collect information," Nikam told the media here.
"He said that he conducted a recce of the Siddhivinayak temple and Shiv Sena Bhawan. He said that he asked the LeT not to attack Siddhivinayak temple and the Naval Air Base because they were heavily guarded," he added.
The Special Public Prosecutor said that Headley had also purchased sacred threads from Siddhivinayak temple, which could be used by the attackers to blend among the Hindus.
"He (Headley) said that he wanted to attack the Shiv Sena Bhawan but the target was cancelled later. He said that there plans to attack a Shiv Sena leader," he said.
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Nikam said that LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi considered two options before the 26/11 Mumbai attacks
"The two options were egress option and stronghold. Stronghold means that to remain at the site till death and egress meant that to leave that place and go to Kashmir. He said that Lakhvi thought that if the attackers knew that they have to flee then the attacks won't be good. So, he opted for the egress option," he said.
Nikam further said that Headley visited several other places such as Pushkar, Pune, Delhi, Chabbad House and the National Defence College besides Mumbai in India.
"When asked why he chose Chabbad House, he said that it was a place where the Jewish people live," Nikam said.
"When we asked why he wanted to attack the National Defence College, he said that lots of senior Majors and Brigadiers give training in the college. He said that if they are killed then it will be a big blow to India," he added.
Nikam said that Headley also had links with the Al-Qaeda, which was not known to his handlers in the LeT.