David Coleman Headley (born Dawood Sayed Gilani; June 30, 1960) is a

Pakistani-American Pakistani Americans () are citizens of the United States who have full or partial ancestry from Pakistan, or more simply, Pakistanis in America. They can be from different ethnic groups in Pakistan like Punjabis, Punjabi or Muhajir people, Muhaj ...

Islamic terrorist and the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai islamic terrorist attacks. He played a key role in orchestrating the attacks, working with the Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Headley conducted extensive surveillance and reconnaissance missions throughout central

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, providing critical information that facilitated the planning and execution of the attacks. Additionally, he, along with his accomplice terrorist Tahawwur Hussain Rana, was involved in an unsuccessful plot to carry out a terrorist attack in

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øres ...

, targeting the Danish newspaper

Jyllands-Posten (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies.Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

(DEA) informant as part of his plea deal following multiple heroin related offenses, including attempting to smuggle narcotics into the U.S. from Pakistan. After being placed on probation he made frequent unauthorized visits to Pakistan and became involved in the local

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

after being introduced to

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...

(LeT). Under the direction of Lashkar representatives, Headley performed five surveillance missions in

to scout targets for the

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...

. The following year, he performed a similar mission in

to help plot an attack against the Danish newspaper ''

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport is the primary international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, Loop business district. The airport is ope ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

with co-conspirator Tahawwur Hussain Rana while on his way to Pakistan in October 2009. On January 24, 2013, a U.S. federal court sentenced Headley to 35 years in prison for his role in Mumbai and Copenhagen. In India, a Mumbai special court held a

trial in absentia Trial in absentia is a criminal proceeding in a court of law in which the person being tried is not present. is Latin for "in (the) absence". Its interpretation varies by jurisdiction and legal system. In common law legal systems, the phrase i ...

for Headley in early February 2016, via a video link from his prison cell in the United States.

Early life

David Coleman Headley was born Dawood Sayed Gilani on June 30, 1960, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to a Pakistani father and an American mother. His father Sayed Salim Gilani was a well-known Pakistani diplomat and broadcaster, while his mother Alice Serrill Headley worked as a secretary at the Pakistani embassy in Washington D.C., and hailed from

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr (, from Welsh language, Welsh for 'big hill') is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania, U.S. ...

. Headley has a younger sister, Syedah, and a half-brother, Danyal. Danyal became the spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister

Yousaf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (born 9 June 1952) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan since 2024. Chairman Gilani served as the acti ...

and served as Pakistan's press attaché in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Shortly after Headley was born, his family left the United States and settled in

Lahore, Pakistan Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and 27th largest in the world, with a population of over 14 million. Lahore is one of Pakistan ...

. Headley stood out because of his light skin color and the heterochromic coloration of his eyes. Headley's mother was unable to adapt to Pakistani culture and returned to the U.S. Due to Pakistani custody rules, she was forced to leave her children with their father in Lahore. After getting a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

, she went through four more marriages and spent time in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Headley was raised in a political environment steeped in

Pakistani nationalism Pakistani nationalism refers to the political, cultural, linguistic, historical, religious and geographical expression of patriotism by the people of Pakistan, of pride in the history, heritage and identity of Pakistan, and visions for its f ...

and Islamic conservatism, both of which were amplified by Pakistani tensions with India. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, bombs hit Headley's elementary school in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and killed two people. Headley went on to attend the elite

Cadet College Hasan Abdal Cadet College Hasanabdal (CCH) is a residential secondary school located in Hasan Abdal, Attock District, Punjab, Pakistan.

, a boys' international military prep school, while there, he befriended co-conspirator Tahawwur Hussain Rana. In 1977, at the age of seventeen Headley left Pakistan following a difficult relationship with his Pakistani stepmother, and moved in with his biological mother in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he helped her manage

pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

such as the Khyber Pass Pub and the adjacent Miss Headley's Wine Bar. Employees at the pub nicknamed him "The Prince." Headley enrolled at

Valley Forge Military Academy Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) is a private boarding school (grades 7–12) and military junior college in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It follows in the traditional Military academy, military school format with army traditions. T ...

but dropped out after one semester. He was a student at the

Community College of Philadelphia The Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) is a public community college with campuses throughout Philadelphia. The college was founded in 1965 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It offers over 100 associate ...

but dropped out without a degree in the 1990s. In 1985, he married a

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

student, but they divorced two years later due to cultural differences.Headley's ex-wife told reporters, "when he would go to Pakistan he would get all riled up again" and use words like "infidels" and "when he would see an Indian person in the street, he used to spit, spit in the street". He eventually moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and opened a

video rental A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game cartridges/discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under conditi ...

business in Manhattan.

Drug Convictions and DEA Deal

During his frequent trips to Pakistan, Headley associated himself with

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

users and started using the drug himself. He became involved in Pakistani

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

. When he was twenty-four, Headley smuggled half a kilogram of heroin out of Pakistani tribal areas and used Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani army doctor who Headley knew from military school, as an unwitting shield. Several days later, police in Lahore arrested Headley for

drug possession The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances. An area has a prohibition of drugs when its government uses the for ...

, but he was released. Rana continued to be used by Headley over the course of his career as a drug trafficker; in the late 1990s, after Rana had emigrated to the U.S., Headley used Rana's legitimate immigration consulting company in

to smuggle drugs. In 1988, while he was traveling to Philadelphia from Pakistan, Headley was arrested by police in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

after two kilos of heroin were found hidden in a

false bottom A false bottom (or false back) is an internal partition in a container, typically at the bottom of a drawer, suitcase or similar item, enabling the concealment of objects from a cursory examination of the item's contents. A false bottom may be pr ...

in his suitcase. Headley quickly made a

plea deal A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include ...

when his case was handed over to the U.S.

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

, agreeing to surrender his partners in Philadelphia in exchange for a lighter sentence. Headley's cooperation earned him four years in prison while his two associates were sentenced to eight and ten years. At his sentencing hearing, the judge made the following statement: "It's up to you, Mr. eadley to do what you can with the rest of your life. You are still a young man. You can either take advantage of this opportunity. Your mother, your lawyer, people said some nice things about you, but what you did, not only to yourself, but to perhaps thousands, hundreds of victims, heroin users in this country is a terrible thing." Headley managed to overcome his addiction to heroin, but was still involved in the drug trade. In early 1997, Headley was arrested with another man in a DEA

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...

when he tried to smuggle heroin into the country from Pakistan. Headley quickly offered his services as a

confidential informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

to the DEA. In January 1998, the agency sent him to Pakistan to dispel suspicions amongst his partners about his prior absence, and to gain intelligence on the country's heroin trafficking networks. According to the DEA, Headley's participation led to five arrests and the seizure of 2½ kilos of heroin. The DEA has insisted that Headley's 1998 trip to Pakistan was the only one paid for by the agency. While the DEA seemingly made great gains from Headley's intelligence, there is ample evidence that Headley abused his status as an informant. He allegedly tried to set up heroin dealers with jailhouse phone calls that were not monitored by DEA agents. A mentally impaired Pakistani immigrant, Ikram Haq, was found to have been tricked into making a drug deal by Headley, and was subsequently acquitted on the grounds of

entrapment Entrapment is a practice in which a law enforcement agent or an agent of the state induces a person to commit a crime that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit.''Sloane'' (1990) 49 A Crim R 270. See also agent prov ...

when brought to trial. Despite this result, Headley was released from prison and put on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

for his contribution to the case. One anonymous former associate of Headley later suggested that he was exploiting his rapport with the DEA, saying, "The DEA agents liked him. He would brag about it. He was manipulating them. He said he had them in his pocket."

Involvement in terrorism

In exchange for information about Pakistani drug contacts, Headley received a considerably lighter sentence than his co-defendant from the 1997 arrest: fifteen months in jail and five years of supervised release. In November 1998, he was delivered to the low-security Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix. There, he became an increasingly devout Muslim. In July 1999, only months into Headley's sentence, his attorney, Howard Leader, requested permission for him to be given a supervised early release from prison so he could travel to Pakistan to be wed in an

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of Marriage, marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaki ...

. Judge

Carol Amon Carol Bagley Amon (; born April 23, 1946) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Education Carol Ann Bagley was born in Richmond, Virginia. She received a Bachelor of ...

granted the unusual request. Headley married a Pakistani woman named Shazia and fathered two children with her. While visiting Lahore, Headley was introduced to

(LeT), a terrorist organization. Headley made further trips to Pakistan without the knowledge of U.S. authorities, immersing himself in LeT ideology. He befriended LeT's spiritual leader,

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (born 5 June 1950) is a Pakistani militant and religious preacher convicted of terrorism. He co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based Islamist militant organization that is List of designated terrorist groups, de ...

, and committed himself to the group's struggle against India, which was supported by the Directorate for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) At the same time this was happening, Headley resumed work as a DEA informant in New York City and participated in an undercover operation that reportedly led to the seizure of one kilo of heroin. Despite working for a U.S. government agency, Headley actively raised money and recruited new members for LeT, a group that swore allegiance with

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

. Headley would later testify that he discussed his views regarding

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

—the focus of LeT's terrorist activities—with his DEA handlers. The DEA has insisted that it was unaware of Headley's political and religious radicalization.

Post-9/11 activities

A day after the attacks on September 11, 2001, Headley's DEA handlers tasked him with collecting counter-intelligence on terrorists through his sources in the drug trade. However, a New York City bartender named Terry O'Donnell reported Headley to an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

task force after Headley's ex-girlfriend told him that Headley had praised the 9/11 hijackers and "got off on watching the news over and over again" in the weeks following the attacks. Under questioning by two Defense Department agents, in the presence of his DEA handlers, Headley denied the accusations and cited his work for the DEA as proof of his loyalty to the U.S. Headley was cleared, and the DEA did not write a report on his interrogation. On November 16, 2001, six weeks after his interrogation, Leader and Assistant U.S. Attorney Loan Hong made a joint application to Judge Amon asking for Headley's supervised release to be terminated three years early. Amon agreed to their request and discharged Headley from any further probation. Leader has claimed that the DEA was involved in the drive to end Headley's probation, which would have kept him from traveling to Pakistan to continue his intelligence work on terrorists. However, the DEA has claimed that Headley wanted his probation lifted so he could travel to Pakistan for family reasons. DEA officials also claim that the agency officially deactivated Headley as an informant on March 27, 2002. Headley himself has claimed that he ended his work for the DEA in September 2002; other agencies claim that he remained a DEA operative as late as 2005. In February 2002, Headley went to a LeT

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

and attended a three-week introductory course on LeT ideology and ''

''. That summer, Serrill Headley, who by then had moved to the town of

Oxford, Pennsylvania Oxford is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Oxford is the closest town to Lincoln University. The population was 5,733 at the 2020 census. History The borough was once called Oxford Crossing and Oxford Village during t ...

with her brother, confided to friends that her son had become a religious fanatic and had been to terrorist training camps. While Headley was on a catering visit to his mother's house, one of her friends, Phyllis Keith, noticed that he parked his car behind her residence as if he was trying to hide it. Keith reported Headley to the FBI office in Philadelphia, which apparently did not follow through with an investigation. In August 2002, Headley returned to Pakistan and began a second stint at the LeT training camp, spending his spare time with Shazia in Lahore. Despite already being married in Pakistan, Headley embarked on a series of affairs in the U.S. and had become engaged to a long-time Canadian girlfriend in New York City the month before. After landing in New York City in December 2002, Headley was briefly detained by border inspectors who had been on the lookout for unusual travel patterns to hubs of terrorism such as Pakistan. However, the border inspectors found nothing amiss and soon released him. Headley married her at a Jamaican resort a few days later. In the summer of 2005, she confronted him after learning about his other marriages, and about his trips to the LeT training camps in Pakistan, Headley then proceeded to hit her during an argument at his Manhattan video store. After Headley was arrested for assault, his wife called a government hotline and disclosed his terrorist activities. She was subsequently interviewed three times by the

Joint Terrorism Task Force A Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) is an American locally-based multi-agency partnership between various federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies tasked with investigating terrorism and terrorism-related crimes, led by the Federal Burea ...

. The FBI, citing Headley's work for the DEA, did not consider him a threat despite the accusations leveled against him in 2001 and 2002. The FBI agent investigating the matter speculated that Headley's wife made her accusations because she had "an axe to grind" regarding his other marriage. Headley was never questioned, and the assault charge was eventually dropped. Headley later closed his video store. In June 2006, Headley's Canadian wife applied for a

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

under the

Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, ) signed by President Bill Clinton on September13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6billion toward investigat ...

which allows those in abusive relationships with United States citizens to proceed with their immigration intent, without relying on their initial spousal petitioners. During her immigration interview she made reference to Headley's radicalization and terrorist training; his

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and anti-Hindu prejudices; and his praise for

suicide bomber A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

USCIS United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and immigration system. History The USCIS is a successor to the Im ...

granted her a green card, but did not alert law enforcement about Headley because of strict privacy laws governing immigration cases which involve spousal abuse.

26/11 (Mumbai plot)

Name change and ISI recruitment

By 2005, Headley's training had advanced to the point where he wanted to fight in Kashmir. Instead, Headley was referred to Sajid Mir, LeT's foreign recruiter. Under Mir's direction, Headley went to Philadelphia and legally changed his name to David Coleman Headley, taking his mother's surname. Even though Pennsylvania law requires a background check for name changes, state officials apparently did not uncover Headley's previous drug convictions. The name change would make it easier for Headley to hide his Pakistani ancestry from Indian authorities, who have strict entry requirements for those of Pakistani descent. In January 2006, Headley established ties with Adbur Rehman Hashim "Pasha" Syed, a retired

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

major and LeT militant, who put him in touch with Major Iqbal, a mysterious figure who is believed to have coordinated LeT activity through his capacity as an ISI officer. Under sworn testimony, Headley recalled meeting Iqbal and his superior, a Pakistani

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, in a

safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is a dwelling place or building whose unassuming appearance makes it an inconspicuous location where one can hide out, take shelter, or conduct clandestine activities. Historical usage It may also refer to ...

. Iqbal and Mir reportedly became Headley's ISI handlers and oversaw his training in

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

techniques in preparation for a

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

mission to Mumbai; he met with Iqbal and Mir separately so that the ISI could maintain

plausible deniability Plausible deniability is the ability of people, typically senior officials in a formal or informal chain of command, to deny knowledge or responsibility for actions committed by or on behalf of members of their organizational hierarchy. They may ...

. In February, Headley was again detained by border inspectors at New York's

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...

after returning from Pakistan, and was again released. That month, he contacted his former DEA handler for the final time.

Trips to Mumbai

Over the course of 2007, LeT's plot for the Mumbai attacks started to materialize, and the Western-looking Headley was considered the ideal militant to perform reconnaissance missions. Using $25,000 supplied to him by Iqbal, Headley opened a Mumbai branch office for Tahawwur Rana's immigration business—which Headley had already used to traffic heroin—as a

front company A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gr ...

. Between 2007 and 2008, Headley made five trips to Mumbai, scouting local landmarks where LeT terrorists would carry out the multi-pronged attack. Headley stayed at the Taj Palace Hotel—identified by Iqbal and Mir as their main target—and surveyed the building using his ISI training, shooting hours of video during in-house tours. Iqbal and Mir were emboldened by Headley's intelligence and decided to make their attack more ambitious in scale. As they expanded their list of targets, Headley scouted the Oberoi Trident Hotel, the

Leopold Cafe The Leopold Cafe and Bar is a restaurant and bar on Colaba Causeway, in Colaba area of Mumbai, India, located across from the Colaba Police station. It was one of the first sites attacked in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. History The Leopold Cafe ...

, and the

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), also known sometimes as Victoria Terminus (VT), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The ter ...

. When LeT decided to target the

Nariman House The Nariman House, designated as a Chabad house (), is a five-storey landmark in the Colaba area of South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The building was home to a Chabad house, a Hasidic Jewish outreach centre run by Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg ...

, a Jewish community center, Headley visited the location posing as a Jew. Headley also took boat tours to look for places where the attackers could reach the city through the waterfront; he found a landing location at a fishermen's slum in the

Colaba Colaba (; or ISO 15919, ISO: Kolābā) is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During the Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was ...

area of southern Mumbai, where he gathered

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

coordinates. For the maritime reconnaissance, Headley received assistance from a

frogman A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater. The term often applies more to professional rather than recreational divers, especially those working in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some Europea ...

in the

Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...

Denmark terrorist plot

First visit and Kashmiri allegiance

In October 2008, one month before the Mumbai attacks, Mir and Iqbal assigned Headley to scout the ''

Jyllands-Posten (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies.Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, which they wanted to attack in retribution for its publication of cartoons of Muhammad. Headley visited the editorial offices of ''Jyllands-Posten'' in January 2009, claiming to be interested in buying ad space. After meeting with the paper's advertising executive, Headley drove to ''Jyllands-Postens newspaper building in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

and met another executive there. Elsewhere during his trip, Headley collected video footage of Copenhagen, including the offices of ''Jyllands-Posten''; looked into leasing an apartment that could be used by LeT's attack team; and inquired about getting a job as a secretary. After being told by his LeT handlers that the plot would be put on hold, Headley became disenchanted with the group. Syed became Headley's new handler and introduced him to

Ilyas Kashmiri Ilyas Kashmiri (10 February 1964– 3 June 2011) was a Pakistani ex-Special Forces Islamist turned militant who fought against Indian troops in Kashmir. NBC News said that United States officials had mentioned him as a possible successor to O ...

, leader of

Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (, HuJI) is a Pakistani Islamist extremist, fundamentalist and terrorist organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It has been the most active in the South Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indi ...

, an Islamist organization active in Pakistan, India, and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. In congressional testimony, a Heritage Foundation analyst said that Ilyas Kashmiri was a former Pakistani SSG commando and is now the leader of the Harakat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI). Roggio writes that Kashmiri is a longtime asset of Pakistan's military and intelligence services and was a commando in the SSG. In the early 1990s, Kashmiri was ordered by the military to join the Harkat-ul Jihad-i-Islami, and later the Jaish-e-Mohammed. When he refused, he dropped out of favor with the military.

Second visit

Headley planned to return to Copenhagen during the summer of 2009. Kashmiri put him in contact with two al-Qaeda operatives: Simon and Bash, who were living in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, England. However, when Headley visited Derby on July 26, 2009, Simon and Bash informed him that they did not want to participate in the Denmark plot and were unable to supply weapons, instead, offering him him US$15,000 in financing. Headley then traveled to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

to meet a Farid, a veteran militant. He was also unable to help Headley as he was under tight surveillance by the

Swedish Police Authority The Swedish Police Authority () is the national police, police force (''Polisen'') of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under Municipalities of Sweden, local ...

. When Headley arrived in Copenhagen by train on July 31, he shot video of a

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army (; ; ) is the land-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures, equipment and training methods ...

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

and approached drug dealers about acquiring guns.

Arrest and charges

Upon arriving at

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the primary international airport serving Atlanta and its Metro Atlanta, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is located south of the Down ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

on August 5, 2009, Headley was questioned by airport inspectors. By this point, the FBI had put Headley on a watch list and engaged in a two-month surveillance operation, debriefing Headley's former DEA handler and reviewing records of past inquiries. Eventually, investigators began to suspect Headley of being involved with the Mumbai attacks. On October 9, Headley was arrested at

while he was attempting to travel to Pakistan to deliver the footage he collected in Denmark. During his interrogation, Headley gave up information on LeT,

, the ISI, and various terror plots and methods. Supervised by federal agents, he helped set up a trap against a militant in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and attempted to lure Sajid Mir out of Pakistan. Despite this, Headley, along with Rana, was charged in his involvement with Kashmiri's plot against ''Jyllands-Posten''. Headley was accused of traveling to Denmark to scout the ''Jyllands-Posten'' office and a nearby

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. The FBI later additionally charged Headley of conspiring to bomb targets in the Mumbai attacks and providing material support to LeT. India's

National Investigation Agency The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the principal counter-terrorism law enforcement agency in India. Established under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, it is tasked with investigating and combating offenses related to terroris ...

(NIA) registered a case against Headley and Rana for allegedly plotting the Mumbai attacks. After questioning Headley in Chicago for a week, the NIA requested a

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

court to issue non-

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

able warrants to arrest Headley and other conspirators. the then Indian

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

Palaniappan Chidambaram reported that U.S. authorities shared "significant information" about the case. U.S.

Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political aff ...

Robert O. Blake, Jr. promised that India would have "full access" to question Headley, although the possibility of extraditing him appeared to be precluded by Headley's plea agreement with

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

Patrick Fitzgerald Patrick J. Fitzgerald (born December 22, 1960) is an American lawyer and former Partner (business rank), partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. For more than a decade, until June 30, 2012, Fitzgerald was the United Sta ...

. Chidambaram said they would continue to try to get him extradited. India wants to interrogate Headley or be able to ask him questions in a court testimony, Chidambaram said. A classified Indian report, based on Headley's interrogation by Indian investigators in Chicago, concludes that some of Headley's scouting trips to Mumbai were financed and planned by the ISI. When this report was leaked to U.S. media in October 2010, its conclusions were denied by Pakistani authorities. In March 2009, Headley made another trip to India to conduct surveillance of the National Defence College in Delhi, and of Chabad Houses in various cities in India.

Passport issues

Indian investigators were surprised at how easily Headley had obtained a visa to enter India, a process that is extremely difficult for Pakistani nationals and Pakistani-origin individuals. Headley's U.S. passport, his new American-sounding name, and the fact that the passport and his visa application made no mention of his prior name or his father's nationality, made it easy for him to obtain an Indian visa from the Indian consulate in Chicago. He falsely stated on his visa application that his father's name was William Headley and that his own name at birth was "Headley", a claim that was difficult to refute since the U.S. passport, unlike the Indian one, does not provide the father's name, and does not require endorsements on name changes by the passport holder. Indian government officials said that if the name change had been noted on his passport, Indian immigration officials would have been alerted during his multiple visits to India. On his visits to India, Headley befriended several people, including

Rahul Bhatt Rahul Bhatt (born 24 January 1982) is an Indian fitness trainer and actor. The son of film director Mahesh Bhatt and Kiran Bhatt, Rahul gained notoriety in 2009 following the revelations that David Headley, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai atta ...

, Bhatt said he never suspected Headley of any wrongdoing.

India's suspicion about U.S. relationship with Headley

While government officials in India cite full cooperation by U.S. authorities, the opposition parties and others in India have demanded explanations of why Headley was allowed to travel freely for years between India,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and the U.S., and why he was working undercover for the

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domes ...

. Some Indian analysts have speculated that David Headley was a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

that had infiltrated LeT, an accusation denied by the CIA. "Any suggestion that Headley was working for the CIA is complete and utter nonsense. It's flat-out false", Paul Gimigliano, from the CIA's Office of Public Affairs, said. As soon as Headley was arrested in Chicago, India's media had a barrage of questions for the government about him, whose answers were slow in coming. Among other questions, Indian investigators wanted the FBI to share its tapes of Headley's communications with his Pakistani handlers to match with the voices taped on cell phones during the

.India is interested in finding out the identity of member A that figured in Headley's jihadi mails. The member A is believed to be none other than retired Pakistan army major Sajid Mir, one of the men who allegedly directed the Mumbai terrorists. Following intense coverage and speculation in India's media, then-U.S. ambassador Timothy J. Roemer in April 2010 told reporters in New Delhi that the United States was working at the "highest level" to provide India access to Headley, even as it was passing along answers to questions in "real time".Citing the U.S. legal system, ambassador Timothy Roemer said it was extraordinary to provide direct access to Headley. News reports in October 2010 revealed that U.S. authorities had much advance knowledge about Headley's terrorist associations and activities. Headley's American and Moroccan wives had contacted American authorities in 2005 and 2007, respectively, complaining about his terrorist activities. The Moroccan wife told reporters that she had even shown the U.S. embassy in Islamabad photographs of their stay at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, warning them that he was doing something on behalf of Lashkar-e-Taiba. While working for Lashkar, which has close ties to the ISI, Headley was also enlisted by the Pakistani spy agency to recruit Indian agents to monitor Indian troop levels and movements, an American official said. Since Headley's guilty plea, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, P. Chidambaram was repeatedly asked why the U.S. cannot extradite Headley to India. Analysts in some media outlets have speculated that the United States conspired to have Headley work undercover despite knowledge that he was involved in terrorism. A series of provocative questions about the relationship between the U.S. government and Headley.A summary of attitudes in the Indian press toward the U.S. government's relationship with Headley, possible motives, and the players, as of March 2010.

NIA interrogation of Headley

In June 2010, US National Security Adviser James Jones announced that India's

(NIA) had been given access to Headley. The investigation has confirmed that

terrorists carried out the Mumbai attack under the "guidance" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Headley stated that the ISI was engaged with the Lashkar commanders responsible for the Mumbai deaths and injuries at each and every stage of the plot. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, with the help of Ilyas Kashmiri, drafted Headley for the plan to attack the Danish newspaper ''Jylland Posten,'' which had published cartoons of Muhammad considered controversial by Muslims. Headley's original handler, Sajid Mir, wanted him to focus on Lashkar's anti-India mission. Headley has claimed that Ishrat Jahan case, Ishrat Jahan, thought to be a case of staged police "encounter killing", was a trained LeT suicide bomber. On May 31, 2011, however, Headley contradicted his previous statements, and testified that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) leadership was not involved in planning the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Pune attack claims

In relation to the 2010 Pune blast at the German bakery that injured at least 53 people and killed 18, of whom 6 were foreigners, Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (India)#Senior administrative officers, Home Secretary, Gopal Krishna Pillai, G. K. Pillai and the ''Hindustan Times'' referred to Headley. The ''Hindustan Times'' stated that Headley had visited Pune in July 2008 and March 2009 and referred to him as a

member. ''The Hindustan Times'' reported that the CCTV footage which was accessed by the Investigating agency, could help solve the mystery.

Review of U.S. handling of Headley

The United States Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper conducted a review of slip-ups in handling Headley's involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. His report was shared with India's Union Home Ministry. "The review finds that while some information relating to Headley was available to U.S. officials prior to the Mumbai attacks, under the policies and procedures that existed at the time, it was not sufficiently established that he was engaged in plotting a terrorist attack in India. Therefore, the U.S. government did not pass on information on Headley to the Indian government prior to the attacks," Clapper said.

Sentencing

On January 24, 2013, Headley was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago to 35 years in prison for his part in the

. Leinenweber called Headley a terrorist and said he hoped he would die in prison, telling him he deserved to be executed. "The sentence I impose, I'm hopeful it will keep Mr. Headley under lock and key for the rest of his natural life," Leinenweber said. "That's what you deserve. I don't have any faith in Mr. Headley when he says he's a changed person and believes in the American way of life." Headley could have been sentenced to life imprisonment, but federal prosecutors recommended a 35-year sentence in view of Headley's extensive cooperation with the government. Headley had provided details on the operations of the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which planned the Mumbai attacks, and information that he provided to the government led to charges against Tahawwur Hussain Rana and six other terrorist figures.

Subsequent developments

The day after the sentence was imposed, the Indian government announced it would continue to seek Headley's extradition to India. In April 2013, it was reported that while imprisoned, Headley had written a memoir detailing his involvement with Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Mumbai attacks. In July 2015, it was reported that the Mumbai police were seeking to take a Deposition (law), deposition of Headley by video conference to provide evidence against Zabiuddin Ansari. On December 10, 2015, a Mumbai court pardoned Headley, making him an turn state's evidence, approver in the Mumbai case. Deposition started in Bombay High Court via video conference on February 8, 2016. He told the court that LeT made two unsuccessful attempts to carry out terror attacks before finally striking in November 2008, once in September and again in October. On February 9, 2016, it was reported that Headley had confessed to a Mumbai court about LeT and Inter-Services Intelligence having penetrated into the ranks of the Indian Army, to work as spies. Headley also said that an attack had also been planned on the Indian defence scientists who were to meet at the conference hall in Taj Hotel, in Mumbai, in 2007. For this purpose, he added, he had carried out a

on the naval air station, INS Kunjali, INS Shikra and the Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai. On July 24, 2018, it was reported that Headley was seriously injured after being attacked in prison, and subsequently admitted to the critical care unit of Evanston Hospital of the NorthShore University HealthSystem.26/11 Convict David Headley in ICU After Attack in US Prison: Reports
ndtv.com. Accessed 9 April 2025.

References

External links

NIA team in Chicago to question Headley; US authorities remain mum
economictimes.indiatimes.com. Accessed April 9, 2025.
Ilyas Kashmiri had plan to kill Lockheed CEO says Headley
indianexpress.com. Accessed April 9, 2025.

hindustantimes.com. Accessed April 9, 2025.
Headley surveyed German bakery
indianexpress.com. Accessed April 9, 2025.

External links

''A Perfect Terrorist''
from Frontline (U.S. TV series), Frontline and ProPublica – originally aired November 22, 2011
''American Terrorist''
from Frontline (U.S. TV series), Frontline and ProPublica – originally aired April 21, 2015
The Case of David Headley: Pakistani American DEA Informant at Center of 2008 Mumbai Attacks
– video report by ''Democracy Now!'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Headley, David 1960 births American Muslims American people convicted of murder American people of Pakistani descent Anti-Danish sentiment Anti-Indian sentiment Antisemitism in India Antisemitism in Pakistan Antisemitism in the United States Cadet College Hasan Abdal alumni Criminals from Philadelphia Drug Enforcement Administration informants Islamic terrorism in Denmark Islamic terrorism in India Islamic terrorism in the United States Lashkar-e-Taiba members Living people American Islamists Participants in the 2008 Mumbai attacks Criminals from Chicago American people imprisoned on terrorism charges American expatriates in Pakistan American expatriates in India American mass murderers People convicted on terrorism charges People convicted of murder by the United States federal government