Tahawwur Rana, a prime conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, has been extradited to India from America and is currently in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He landed at New Delhi on Thursday in a special flight, and authorities have taken all necessary precautions to maintain maximum security. Tahawwur Rana has been shifted to a specially prepared high-security interrogation room at the NIA headquarters. Entry into this room is strictly regulated—only 12 handpicked officials who are part of the investigation, including NIA Director General Sadanand Date, IG Ashish Batra, and DIG Jaya Roy, can enter. Any other visitors will have to be cleared in advance.
Tahawwur Rana will be presented with major pieces of evidence during questioning, such as voice samples that have been recorded, videos, photographs, and emails associated with the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, according to sources. The materials are likely to build a stronger case against him and bring out more information regarding his involvement in the deadly plot. Investigators will probe Rana’s ties to Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, who is currently serving a prison sentence in the US. Rana is believed to have helped Headley scout targets in India under the guise of his immigration consultancy business.
Special focus is being placed on Rana’s contact with Headley, who visited India several times between 2006 and 2008. The NIA dossier states that Headley phoned Rana 231 times during these visits. On his first visit alone, there were 32 calls; on the eighth, a staggering 66 calls were made. Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin and a former doctor in the Pakistani Army, is also suspected of having links with the ISI and Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives like Sajid Mir. The 26/11 attacks left 166 people dead and hundreds injured. Rana’s interrogation could help unravel more links between Pakistan-based terror networks and the attack planning.
