Mumbai police sources on Friday (November 13) revealed that David Coleman Headley, arrested by the FBI for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror attacks in India, met Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives Fahim Ansai, Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal during his visit to the city prior to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Sources added that both Tahawwur Rana and Headley had strong links with Indian Mujahideen’s top brass, including Saddiq, who is currently in the custody of Mumbai police for his alleged involvement in the 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts. Sources said that both Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal are absconding and are believed to be hiding in Pakistan. Investigations conducted by the Mumbai police have also revealed the Indian Mujahideen’s link is traced back to top LeT commanders in India and Pakistan.

Fahim Ansari was a prized catch of the Mumbai police and was arrested from Rampur, UP on the February 10, 2008. Ansari is accused of facilitating the 26/11 terror attack and is said to have been in touch with perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. Detailed maps of the city recovered from this LeT operative, revealed that Ansari conducted recce of areas in Mumbai prior to the attacks.

Meanwhile, Riyaz and Iqbal are accused for the Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Jaipur serial blasts of 2008. Riyaz is reportedly said to have co-founded the Indian Mujahideen.

Sources within the Mumbai police also revealed that both Headley and Rana came to the city during 2007-09 on several occasions. Sources added that Headley posed as a Jew and tried to befriend Jews in the city. He is also said to have done a recce of Jews installations in Mumbai. This bit of information is been seen as a breakthrough in the 26/11 case, after the Jewish Chabad House in Colaba was attacked by two terrorists during the dastardly terror strike, which killed over 160 people.

Incidentally, when Headley was arrested, the FBI recovered from him a copy of a book — How To Pray Like a Jew — indicating the level of preparation he undertook while visiting his targets. Headley might have carried this book even when he was in Mumbai for a recce of Chabad House.

The FBI has been trying to find out whether Headley and his accomplice Rana, also arrested in the US, were involved in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and whether handlers of the duo and attackers of Mumbai were same. “The process of verification on his (Headley) visit to India between 2006-09 was on and we will be able to give a clear picture only after a week,” an official said.

During his stay in Mumbai, Headley used to reside at various places. During his last visit, he had stayed in a hotel in south Mumbai near CST. Mumbai Police had already approached the hotel seeking information like his entries in the register and on the people who used to frequent him during his stay.

The 49-year-old Headley was arrested last month at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Philadelphia, intending to travel to Pakistan. FBI also arrested Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, for his alleged involvement in terror activities.

The FBI reports on Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley’s Mumbai connection has put the Mumbai police on an overdrive. Investigating agencies are gathering more and more clues to piece together Headley’s role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror plot, with sources saying that Headley surveyed all 26/11 Mumbai terror targets.

Headley, who was arrested by the FBI in Chicago for allegedly hatching a conspiracy with LeT to carry out strikes in India, checked in to the Taj Hotel in Mumbai on two occasions in 2007. Official sources in Mumbai said investigations have revealed that Headley, arrested by US investigating agency FBI for planning terror attacks in India, stayed at Taj between March 28 and March 30, 2007. During this period, he stayed in Room No 1809, they said.

Headley came back to the hotel on May 2, 2007 and stayed in Room No 314 till May 7, the sources said. The Taj had bore the brunt of the three-day carnage after Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists struck Mumbai on November 26 last. Rana, who is also under FBI custody, had stayed in a guest house in south Mumbai till November 21, 2008, before he flew to an European destination on way back to Canada.

Headley’s second target was the Trident Hotel – which also eventually bore the brunt of 26/11 attack. Sources say Headley posed as a customer and gathered crucial information on the Hotel.

Headley’s third target was Nariman House — the Jewish Centre. Sources say Headley conducted recces of the Centre and also posed as a Jew during his stay in Mumbai. Sources said that Headley reportedly passed all the details to the Lashkar handlers in Pakistan.

Incidentally, when Headley was arrested, the FBI recovered from him a copy of a book — How To Pray Like a Jew — indicating the level of preparation he undertook while visiting his targets. Headley might have carried this book even when he was in Mumbai for a recce of Chabad House.

The sources said this has raised suspicion that he may have given final touches to the audacious terror strikes five days later that left 183 people dead including some American, British and Israeli nationals. Investigators also found that Headley stayed in two hotels in April last year in Delhi’s Paharganj, a favourite of budget travellers from abroad and recovered his passport details.

National Investigating Agency and central security agencies are now probing into the travel details of both the suspects to check if they had any hand in the 26/11 attack or the serial bomb blasts in the country between 2006 and 2008.

Meanwhile, after it emerged that US terror suspect Headley visited Mumbai and a host of other cities in India during the last two years, the Gujarat ATS on Saturday (November 14) confirmed that Headley and his accomplice had even visited Ahmedabad. The Gujarat ATS has also launched a probe into what Headley did whilst in Ahmedabad.

The 49-year-old Headley was arrested last month at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Philadelphia, intending to travel to Pakistan. FBI also arrested Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, for his alleged involvement in terror activities.

Google’s Chrome operating system may be available for download as early as next week. Google first announced plans for the OS this past summer. If it’s anything like Google’s Web browser, also called Chrome, expect the OS to be fast and a little buggy.

Google is taking a cloud-based approach in its operating system strategy. With traditional operating systems, the OS works with your computer’s processor, memory and hard drive (or other storage medium) to execute commands. But Google is looking to port those tasks from your computer to a network of Web servers. Instead of saving a document to your hard drive, you’d save it to your Google account. The actual information will exist on a remote server. Instead of storing lots of programs on your computer, you’ll access Web applications. It’s diabolical!

It also means the computer you use doesn’t need to be powerful or have a lot of storage capacity. It just needs to be able to access the Internet. If Google can create a stable, reliable operating system, it could revolutionize the consumer computer market.

Since the operating system won’t put heavy demands on your machine, it will load much faster than competing operating systems. It would be the perfect OS to slap onto an underpowered netbook. Hello, cheap computers!

Google might not charge anything for its operating system, which could cut costs further. Google may plan to earn money from the operating system the same way it does everywhere else: through ad deals. Google dominates the Web search advertising market. We may see a similar strategy for the Google Chrome OS once it launches.

Will the operating system be an instant hit? I doubt it. I think Google will have to prove the OS is stable and useful first. But the company has seen recent success with its Android mobile phone operating system. And it’s won some goodwill after announcing that it will provide free WiFi to several airports during the holiday season. Maybe this is the perfect time to strike.