Zeenews Bureau
Hyderabad/New Delhi: India on Friday said two
persons have been arrested in Pakistan in connection with
Lashkar-e-Taiba's plot to target vital installations here,
which was exposed in the US, showing the "obvious Pakistan
link" to the conspiracy.
Pakistan, however, has provided no information to India
in relation to the conspiracy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
said.
"There is an obvious Pakistan link. (David Coleman)
Headley visited Pakistan a number of times and I think on the
advice of the FBI, two or perhaps more people have been
arrested in Pakistan," Home Minister P Chidambaram told
reporters in Hyderabad about the plot which was foiled with
the arrest of the LeT operative by the FBI last month.
He was asked if there was any input on Pakistan's link
to the plot to attack the prestigious National Defence College
in New Delhi in which the FBI has arrested Headley, a US
national, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian
citizen and a resident of Chicago.
To a similar poser to Singh at a joint press conference
with his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt in Delhi, the
prime minister said, "To the extent I have information on this
Headley affair, I don't think we have received any information
from the Pakistani side."
On whether the Indian government was informed about the
LeT plan, Chidambaram replied in the affirmative.
If you are asking whether I was informed about it, the
answer is yes. If the question is whether you will be informed
about it, the answer is no," he quipped.
Details of conversation between Headley and Rana,
submitted by prosecutors to the Chicago court, indicates that
the LeT was giving priority to its attack on the National
Defence College over other targets.
The reference to the National Defence College as a
target was made by the duo during their conversation on
September 7, which was recorded by the FBI.
Incidentally, Pakistani media had claimed, yesterday, that Pakistan government had taken into custody the key suspect behind the plot to attack the National Defence College in New Delhi - leading to the exposure of the LeT.
As per a senior journalist from Asia Times, who was interviewed by a private news channel, Islamabad had information regarding the terror plot in advance.
Syed Shahzad said Pak officials had arrested an al Qaeda operative in September in connection with the planned attack.
However, the fact remains that Islamabad never communicated this to New Delhi.
b>Indian sleuths join probe
A team of Indian investigators comprising IB and RAW officials, who are in Chicago, have got permission from the US authorities to grill terror suspect David Coleman Headley, a report said yesterday.
However, there is still uncertainty whether the FBI has given permission to Indian investigators to interrogate co-conspirator Rana.
US media has reported that Headley and Rana have, during interrogation, confessed to receiving training from LeT.
The duo has reportedly revealed that they conspired with LeT commander Ejaaj Kashmiri to hit the facilities as well as employees of a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005.
Kashmiri, closely associated with the killers of American journalist Daniel Pearl, lives in the Pak Occupied Kashmir. He currently holds the number two position in the Lashkar-e-Toiba followed by Abu Sayeed.
Kashmiri, who is also known as the next Osama-bin-Laden in LeT circles, is also a known expert in the guerrilla warfare.
With PTI inputs