David Headley named Ishrat Jahan as LeT operative in 2010 too

Bengaluru, Feb 12: David Coleman Headley, one of the key conspirators of deadly Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, on Thursday, Feb 11, made an explosive revelation calling Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year-old girl, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter, as a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative and a female suicide bomber.

However, this is not the first time when Headley has made the same disclosure about Ishrat Jahan. In the past too, he has made these allegations on Ishrat. Let's have a look at past instance, when Headley named Ishrat Jahan as a terrorist. [Ishrat Jahan case: A timeline]

2010: During an interrogation with four-member team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Law department, in the Chicago jail, Headley had termed Ishrat as an LeT fidayeen (suicide bomber), who was recruited by Muzammil, a top Lashkar commandar.

Lashkar had claimed that Ishrat was an LeT member, in LeT-owned magazine-- "Ghazwa Times". However, in 2007, when Lashkar was renamed as Jamaat-ud-Dawaa (JuD), it apologised to Ishrat's family by claiming that she was not an LeT member. [Headley, home ministry termed Ishrat a 'terrorist']

2009: In 2009, an affidavit submitted by the home ministry before the Gujarat High Court said that Ishrat Jahan had links with the Pakistan-based terror outfit.

The affidavit also said that Ishrat and her colleagues were planning to carry out a major operation in Gujarat. It was also said that one of her partners, Javed, had converted to Islam but secured a passport in his Hindu name and went to Dubai to participate in LeT activities.

He reportedly met Ishrat in Thane in Maharashtra, where he persuaded the latter to join the LeT. It was said that since Ishrat had no criminal background, the LeT man found it convenient to rope her in so that nobody would suspect her.

What happened on June 15, 2004?

19-year-old second-year BSc student at Mumbai's Guru Nanak Khalsa college, Ishrat Jahan and three men, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar (both Pakistan nationals), were killed in a police encounter in the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The police held that the group had links to Lashkar-e-Taiba and were planning to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

What CBI chargesheet said in 2013?

According to testimonies by 20 policemen, the CBI said that Ishrat and her friends -- Javed Sheikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were abducted and were confined in different farmhouse in and around Ahmedabad. The four people were confined illegally in the farmhouses for over a period of two months.

Zeeshan was taken to Ahmedabad on April 27, 48 days before the encounter. One month later, Javed brought Amjad and handed the latter over to Gujarat Police. Reason behind Javed's move of handing Amjad over to the state police has not been explained yet.

Later, Ishrat and Javed were picked up by the police at a check post in Vasad near Anand, on June 12 when the duo were on their way to Ahmedabad. Ishrat and Javed began their journey from Nasik in Maharashtra in a blue Indica.

On June 13, Rajendra Kumar, the then Gujarat station chief of the Intelligence Bureau, had interrogated Ishrat in a farmhouse where she was confined illegally. A day later, Kumar along with senior police officers DG Vanzara and PP Pandey had hatched the plan of fake encounter. [Gujarat Crime Branch fired 70 rounds at Ishrat & others: CBI]

One police officer allegedly was asked to collect weapons including a AK-47 from IB office. The weapons were planted at thew shooting site to make it seem like Ishrat and her friends were armed. [How Ishrat, others were killed in Gujarat, explains CBI]

A police officer on June 15 had driven Ishrat and others in Javed's Indica to the Kotarpur Waterworks road where they were gunned down by a group of policemen. ['Bihar's daughter' Ishrat: 'Secular' JD(U) at play?]

Ishrat's death concealed all facts with her?

It has been almost 12 years when Ishrat was killed in an encounter, but the mystery behind her motives still remains a question mark. [We are sure that Ishrat Jahan was not a terrorist, says her family member]

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