Court reserves order on cognizance of chargesheet against Headley

A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its order for February 18 for taking cognisance of the NIA's chargesheet filed against Pakistani-American David Headley Coleman and eight others for allegedly carrying out several terror attacks in India.

Special NIA Judge HS Sharma, in an in-camera hearing, reserved its order for February 18 on taking cognizance of the charge sheet after hearing arguments from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) prosecutor.

The NIA had accused 51-year old Headley, his Pakistani-Canadian accomplice Tahawwur Rana, Lashker-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and six others for planning and executing terror strikes in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

Earlier, the NIA had told the court that Headley's wife had congratulated him for the success of the November 26 terror attack in Mumbai.

The agency said his wife had e-mailed Headley saying "he has graduated and she was proud of him" and that she had watched the show (attack) for the whole day.

The NIA prosecutor had said Headley visited and receed several places in India before the 26/11 Mumbai attack and he had also gone to Pakistan several times where he also met Pakistan Army official Major Iqbal, co-accused in the case.

The NIA had on December 24 last year filed the voluminous charge sheet against Headley, Rana, Saeed and others. Both Headley and Rana are at present in the custody of the US authorities and the NIA has only got a limited access to Headley who had entered into plea bargain with US authorities to escape harsh sentence.