Headley plot: Chidambaram confirms Pakistan link

Asserting that security forces were fully prepared to thwart any terrorist attack on vital installations in the country, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today emphatically said there was a definite Pakistani link to the plot, unearthed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US.

''The Pakistan link is obvious. The affidavit filed by the FBI agent, and reproduced in papers, points to the link. David Coleman Headley has visited Pakistan a number of times,'' he told reporters after paying floral tributes to India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the National Police Academy here on the occasion of Dikshant Parade of the 61st batch of IPS probationers.

''On the advice of the FBI, two or perhaps more persons have been arrested in Pakistan. There is a definite Pakistan link,'' he said.

Fortynine-year-old Headley, a US citzen, and Pakistani-born Canadian citizen Tahawwur Hussein Rana (48) had been arrested by the FBI in the US for plotting attacks in India at the instance of Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

The duo had reportedly told the US investigation agency that LeT plotted attacks on National Defence College in New Delhi, two high-profile boarding schools in northern India and tourist destinations frequented by foreigners before the first anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist strikes.

Mr Chidambaram parried questions on intelligence inputs on the possible terror targets ahead of the Mumbai attacks anniversary, saying, ''these things cannot be discussed in public.'' He urged the media not to cause panic, and assured the people that the security forces were fully vigilant and capable of thwarting any such attack. Asked about Indian Mujahideen, a frontal organisation of LeT, he said it was a ''virtual organisation''. ''A lot of people claim to be its members. We have arrested a lot of them. We will continue to arrest a lot more,'' he added.

-- (UNI) -- 06MS27.xml

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