Tahawwur Rana, 26/11 Mumbai terror assaults accused, despatched to 18-day NIA custody

Tahawwur Rana leaves from Patiala Home Court docket in New Delhi after he was despatched to 18-day NIA custody.
| Photograph Credit score: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

The Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA) on Friday (April 11, 2025) took Mumbai assaults mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana into 18-day custody, throughout which he might be questioned intimately to unravel the whole conspiracy behind the lethal 26/11 terror strike.

The anti-terror company had produced Rana earlier than the NIA Particular Court docket at Patiala Home after formally putting him below arrest on his arrival at Indira Gandhi Worldwide (IGI) airport on Thursday night, following his profitable extradition from the U.S.

The courtroom on Friday despatched Rana to 18-day NIA custody, following which he was introduced from Patiala Home courts advanced to the NIA headquarters in a heavily-secured motorcade comprising Delhi Police’s Particular Weapons and Ways (SWAT) and different safety personnel.

Particular Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA) choose Chander Jit Singh despatched Rana to custody on an software of NIA searching for his 20-day custody.

Additionally learn | Tahawwur Rana extradition updates- April 10

Rana might be stored in a extremely secured cell contained in the anti-terror company’s head workplace at CGO advanced right here, officers mentioned.

“Rana will stay in NIA custody for 18 days, throughout which period the company will query him intimately in an effort to unravel the whole conspiracy behind the lethal 2008 assaults, wherein a complete of 166 individuals have been killed and over 238 injured,” mentioned a press release issued by the probe company quickly after the courtroom’s order.

The 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, an in depth affiliate of 26/11 Mumbai terror assaults foremost conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a U.S. citizen, was dropped at India after the US Supreme Court docket on April 4 dismissed his assessment plea towards his extradition.

In response to sources, the NIA had sought Rana’s custody for 20 days to interrogate him, citing clinching proof together with varied emails.

The company instructed the courtroom that Rana’s interrogation was essential to unearth the bigger conspiracy behind the 2008 assaults.

It additionally instructed the courtroom that it needed to look into his position as a planner of the assaults.

Editorial | Justice after extradition: On Tahawwur Hussain Rana

The NIA mentioned that as a part of the legal conspiracy, accused no. 1, David Coleman Headley, had mentioned all the operation with Rana earlier than his go to to India.

Anticipating potential challenges, Headley despatched an e-mail to Rana detailing his belongings and belongings, the NIA instructed the courtroom, including that Headley additionally knowledgeable Rana in regards to the involvement of Pakistani nationals Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman, who’re additionally accused within the case, within the plot.

Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and Particular Public Prosecutor Narender Mann represented the NIA.

Earlier than the proceedings, the choose requested Rana if he had a lawyer.

After Rana mentioned that he didn’t have a lawyer, the choose knowledgeable him {that a} counsel was being offered to him from Delhi Authorized Providers Authority.

After that, advocate Piyush Sachdeva was appointed to symbolize him.

Earlier than Rana was dropped at the Patiala Home Court docket, Delhi Police eliminated mediapersons and members of the general public from the advanced, citing safety issues.

Police authorities mentioned, “Nobody can be permitted inside”.

Rana is accused of conspiring with Headley and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) together with different Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to hold out the three-day terror siege of India’s monetary capital.

On November 26, 2008, a gaggle of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, finishing up a coordinated assault on a railway station, two luxurious inns and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India’s monetary capital utilizing the ocean route within the Arabian Sea.

As many as 166 folks have been killed within the practically 60-hour assault.