LeT terrorist, who functioned like David Headley, arrested in Varanasi

New Delhi: Security agencies have arrested an alleged Lashker-e-Toiba operative and said that he was carrying out reconnaissance of vital installations.

Officials were quoted by PTI as saying that the accused, identified as Abdul Naeem Sheikh, a resident of Aurangabad in Maharashtra, was arrested from Varanasi recently after being tailed by security agencies for a few months.

It is alleged that Sheikh had visited Kashmir where he had carried out a recce mission involving some vital installations, including Army camps and power projects.

The officials claimed that he had also visited some places in Himachal Pradesh, especially Kasol.

The security agencies have claimed that Sheikh had been roped in on the same lines as David Headley, a Pakistan- American, who is at present serving a prison sentence of 35 years in a US jail for his involvement in terror activities and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008.

Headley is said to have made periodic trips to Pakistan for LeT training and performed five spying missions in Mumbai to scout targets for the attacks in 2008. 

He was arrested at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago while on his way to Pakistan in October 2009.

(With PTI inputs)