Key accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, extradited from the US on Thursday, Tahawwur Rana had told the main accused of 2008 terror attacks, David Coleman Headley aka Daood Gilani that “Indians deserved 26/11”, a deadly terrorist attack which claimed the lives of 166 innocent civilians in India’s financial capital.
Not only this, in an intercepted conversation with Headley, Rana also allegedly expressed that nine LeT terrorists who were killed while performing the Mumbai attacks, should be honoured with Pakistan’s highest award for gallantry in battle “Nishan-e-Haider”, which is given to martyred soldiers.
The NIA began Rana’s interrogation on Friday at its headquarters after a Delhi court granted the agency 18 days’ custody of the terror accused, a former Pakistani army doctor who later took Canadian citizenship.
Rana was allegedly also in touch with operatives of the terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami, along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators behind the Mumbai carnage that killed at least 166 people, including six American nationals.
Tahawwur Rana in NIA custody
Rana is currently lodged in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in Delhi. Rana was produced before a special NIA court at Patiala House. Judge Chander Jit Singh, presiding over the special NIA bench, granted the agency 18 days custody, as against its request of 20 days.
Tahawwur Rana will be brought to Taj Hotel in Mumbai for NIA probe in the 26/11 terror attack case. Rana is said to have visited Hapur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kochi and Ahmedabad — apart from Mumbai — with his wife between November 13 and November 21, 2008, as per reports. In Mumbai, he reportedly stayed in the Taj Hotel, one of the 26/11 targets.
Who is Tahawwur Rana?
Tahawwur Rana is a Pakistan-born Chicago businessman who is wanted in India for his role in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. He was flown to India on Thursday, April 10 after being extradited from the US. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen landed in Delhi on Thursday and is currently in the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Rana grew up in Pakistan and studied medicine before joining the Pakistani army’s medical corps. He along his wife, Samraz Rana Akhtar, became Canadian citizens in 2001. In 2011, Tahawwur Rana was cleared of a direct role in helping plot the attacks that killed 166 people by a US court. However, the US court had convicted him for supporting militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is responsible for the attacks.
Tahawwur Rana’s Extradition from the US
Sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2013, Rana was released in 2020 on health grounds but was re-arrested later that year after India’s extradition request. In February this year, US President Donald Trump approved the extradition after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tahawwur Rana’s comments celebrating the death of 166 civilians in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks has been mentioned in the US Justice Department’s statement explaining his extradition to India. The Justice department has also released photographs of the mastermind being handed over to NIA in Los Angeles. In the photographs, the terrorist can be seen wearing a a brown prison jumpsuit with chains around his waist and legs.
