NIA starts interrogation

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday began questioning of Mumbai attacks mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana here to unravel the larger conspiracy behind the deadly terror strikes of 2008, official sources said.

Rana was brought to the NIA headquarters early Friday morning after a Delhi court granted 18-day custody to the probe agency, following his extradition from the US.

Rana is being kept in a highly-secured cell, inside the anti-terror agency's head office at CGO complex here, being guarded by security personnel round the clock, the sources said.

A 24x7 surveillance is being maintained and Rana has been provided with basic necessities like food and meals among others, they said.

The investigation is being led by NIA's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Jaya Roy, who is also the Chief Investigating Officer, they said.

"Rana will remain in NIA custody for 18 days, during which time the agency will question him in detail in order to unravel the complete conspiracy behind the deadly 2008 attacks, in which a total of 166 persons were killed and over 238 injured," said a statement issued by the probe agency soon after the court's order.

It is learnt that the interrogation is focused on getting more details on his possible connection with Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which had orchestrated the attacks.

The 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman -- a close associate of key Mumbai terror attacks conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani (a US citizen) — would also be questioned on his suspected links with the officials of Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and his exact role behind the attack, the 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 on November 26, 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.

‘Rana helped Headley obtain Indian visa'

Mumbai: Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, had helped co-conspirator David Coleman Headley to obtain an Indian visa, a Mumbai police official familiar with the probe has said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday evening formally arrested Rana, who was brought to India after being “successfully extradited” from the US. A special court in Delhi subsequently remanded him in the custody of the agency for 18 days. Rana had served in the Pakistan Army medical corps before emigrating to Canada in the late 1990s and started an immigration consultancy firm. He later moved to the US and set up an office in Chicago.

Through his firm, Rana gave cover to Headley to carry out a reconnaissance mission in Mumbai prior to the November 2008 attacks and helped him get a ten-year visa extension, the police official said on Thursday. During his stay in India, Headley used the front of running an immigration business and was in regular contact with Rana.

There were more than 230 phone calls between the two during this period, the official said. Rana was also in touch with ‘Major Iqbal', another co-conspirator of the attacks during this period, as per the NIA charge sheet.

‘Indians deserved it'

Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana allegedly said the Indians “deserved it" and commended the nine LeT terrorists killed during the attack, suggesting that they should be given "Nishan-e-Haider”, Pakistan's highest gallantry award, according to the US Department of Justice.

"In an intercepted conversation with Headley, Rana allegedly commended the nine LeT terrorists who had been killed committing the attacks, saying that “they should be given Nishan-e-Haider”-Pakistan's highest award for gallantry in battle, which is reserved for fallen soldiers," the statement said.

"Rana's extradition is a critical step toward seeking justice for the six Americans and scores of other victims who were killed in the heinous attacks," the Department of Justice said in a statement.