Late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray was LeT target, repeats David Headley

Accused-turned-approver David Headley on Thursday reiterated before the sessions court that late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray was on the hit list of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. He also said a person whose identity he did not know had been assigned the job of "taking him out", but he was arrested before he could strike.

Headley, who is deposing before the trial court through video-conferencing from an undisclosed location in the US, said, "He had visited the Sena Bhavan twice. He, however, did not specify the year. We wanted to target the chief of Shiv Sena... His name was Bal Thackeray. LeT wanted to kill him wherever a chance arose. I have no first-hand knowledge but I think an attempt was made by LeT to kill Bal Thackeray."

Headley is being cross-examined by advocate Wahab Khan, who is representing accused Sayed Zaibuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal. It is alleged that he was present in the control room set up in Karachi to coordinate with the 10 terrorists carrying out the attack in Mumbai in 2008.

When asked whether Headley had met any of the attackers, he replied in the negative and said, "I had seen the photo of one of the attackers on the Internet and identified him as Ajmal Kasab 'Rehmatullah Aliah'.

When asked why he put the words 'Rehmatullah Aliah' after Kasab's name, Headley added, "When a person is dead he should be prayed for, whether he is good or bad. One should pray for the person... to be forgiven. I don't know if Kasab was good or bad as I didn't know him."

When prodded by Khan if what Kasab had done (by participating in the 26/11 attacks) was good or bad and if the Mumbai attack was a good deed or a bad deed, Headley said, "Of course the act of murder is not going to be a good act. Murder of any innocent person is a bad act."

During his earlier deposition, Headley had said that he was happy after the success of the Mumbai attacks and even his wife Shazia had congratulated him through email. However, on Thursday he claimed, "This is an argumentative question. Khush the yeh bhi galat jawab hai, khush nahi the yeh bhi galat jawab hai (I was happy is also a wrong answer and I was not happy too is wrong). What can I say?"

Headley refused to divulge any information to defence counsel Khan about his wives Shazia and Faiza. He repeatedly told the counsel and the court, "The communication between me and my wives is privileged and private and it is none of Mr Wahab's interest." The LeT operative clarified that Shazia was not working for the terror outfit but said that he (Headley) does not know if her father was working for Pakistan's ISI. When Khan asked Headley if his shops in Dubai are being looked after by LeT, the latter said, "it's only in your fantasies."