Interrogation to expose Pakistan state actors' role in 26/11 attacks

Security personnel stand guard outside the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. Pic: PTI

New Delhi: Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was extradited to the country from the US on Thursday, will now face the law in India, and his interrogation is likely to spill the beans on the role of Pakistani state actors behind the dastardly act that claimed 166 lives in 2008, official sources said.

The investigators also hope to find some important leads on his travels in parts of northern and southern India, days before the carnage in the country's financial capital in November 2008, they said.

Rana visited Hapur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai with his wife Samraz Rana Akhtar between November 13 and November 21, 2008, the sources said.

They said there could have been a larger conspiracy aimed at targeting other places across the country behind his visits to these places, and the exact details would be ascertained only after his interrogation.

Pakistan’s role

Rana's interrogation would help the probe agencies expose the role of Pakistani state actors behind the 26/11 attacks, and may shed new light on the investigation, the sources said.

On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out coordinated attacks on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre after sneaking into Mumbai through the Arabian sea.

Among the 166 people killed were US, British and Israeli nationals. The nearly 60-hour assault sent shockwaves across the country and even brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

The terrorists targeted multiple iconic locations in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, Leopold Cafe, Chabad House and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance.

In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist among the Pakistani attackers, was hanged to death at Yerawada Jail in Pune.

Rana was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the 26/11 attacks case.

Terror outfits

During the investigation, the roles of senior functionaries of terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI) -- Hafiz Muhammad Saeed alias Tayyaji, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Sajjid Majid alias Wasi, Illyas Kashmiri, and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed alias Major Abdurrehman alias Pasha had emerged, the sources said.

They worked in active connivance with officials from Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), namely Major Iqbal alias Major Ali and Major Sameer Ali alias Major Samir, as per the NIA.

After the completion of its investigation, the NIA filed a chargesheet before a Delhi court on December 24, 2011, against all the accused for providing logistic, financial and other assistance to Headly and the other co-conspirators towards the criminal conspiracy to organise terrorist attacks in India.

Major Iqbal

Rana is said to have remained in contact with Major Iqbal, the sources said.

During his first visit to India, Headley spoke to Rana over phone for more than 32 times, they said.

Subsequently, Headley spoke to Rana 23 times during his second visit, 40 times during the third visit, 37 times during the fifth visit, 33 times during the sixth visit, and 66 times during the eighth visit, they said, highlighting his active involvement in the Mumbai attacks conspiracy.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US arrested Rana from Chicago a year after the attacks in October 2009 for providing support for an aborted plan to behead employees of a newspaper in Copenhagen (Denmark), and also for providing material support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which orchestrated the Mumbai attacks, the sources said, adding that Rana, however, was acquitted in the 26/11 case.

India was trying to extradite Rana for many years because of his association with the LeT, HuJI and Headley, and for his active involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

Rana was aware

It is alleged that Rana was aware of Headley's terror links and even helped in reconnaissance of targets in Mumbai and planning the attacks on the National Defence College in Delhi and the Chabad House in Mumbai.

The extradition of Rana was first cleared by the US Supreme Court in January, when it rejected his review petition in the case.

Rana submitted an "emergency application for stay pending litigation of petition for writ of habeas corpus" on February 27, 2025, with an associate justice of the US Supreme Court and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit, Elena Kagan. The application was denied in March. Rana then renewed his emergency application previously addressed to Justice Kagan, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts. The SC denied his application.

Encouraged to hear about extradition: Israeli envoy

Israeli envoy Reuven Azar has welcomed the extradition of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks case accused Tahawwur Rana to India and thanked the government for its "persistence in bringing the terrorists to justice".

In a video message, the envoy said, "We are encouraged to hear about the extradition to India of one of the perpetrators of the terrible and horrendous terrorist attacks that happened in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, which took the lives of innocent civilians, including Israelis.

"I would like to thank the government of India for its persistence in bringing the terrorists to justice," he said.

At the time of attacks home secy was in Pak

When 10 heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists carried out the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, an Indian delegation headed by the then Union home secretary Madhukar Gupta was in Islamabad for bilateral talks to discuss various issues, including terrorism.

On November 26, 2008, when the terrorists reached Mumbai, sailing through the Arabian sea from Pakistan, Gupta was in Islamabad attending bilateral home secretary-level talks, what was then named as the 'Composite Dialogue', sources said. The Indian delegation concluded the talks with their Pakistani counterparts on November 26. As part of the existing convention, the Indian delegation was supposed to meet Pakistan's Interior Minister for a courtesy call. However, the Indian delegation was told that the Pakistani minister was unavailable as he was travelling and they could meet him the next day i.e. on November 27. So the team stayed back, the sources said. Later on that day (November 26), the Indian delegation was taken to Murree, a picturesque hill station near Islamabad.

That evening, the terrorists attacked Mumbai and carried out the country's worst terrorist carnage, killing 166 people.

When the news came, Gupta was in regular touch with senior leadership in Delhi from Murree.

The Indian delegation to Pakistan included an additional secretary in the ministry of home affairs, a joint secretary and a few other officers. The team spent that fateful night in Murree before rushing back to India the next day.

On Thursday, when contacted over phone, Gupta told PTI he was unwell and expressed his inability to talk.

Delegation was tricked

There was speculation at that time that the Indian delegation could have been tricked by Pakistan to extend their stay by a day. In Gupta's absence on that fateful day in 2008, the then special secretary (internal security) in the home ministry M L Kumawat was handling the affairs of the home ministry and giving initial instructions to the agencies concerned as advised by the then union home minister Shivraj Patil, who later resigned.

Kumawat, an IPS officer, was assisted by then then joint secretary Naveen Verma and a few other officers.