Tahawwur Rana was produced before the Patiala House Court late Thursday night. He was brought to the court in a cavalcade, including a jail van, an armoured SWAT vehicle and an ambulance. The NIA is set to begin its interrogation from today.
Tahawwur Rana in India: In a major development in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case, Tahawwur Rana, the mastermind of the incident, was brought to India following his extradition from the United States. The move comes nearly 16 years after the deadly strikes that shook the nation and left 166 people dead and over 230 injured. Rana, who was brought to India on Thursday, was taken to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters under tight security. Late in the evening, he was produced before the Special NIA Court, which granted the agency 18 days of custody for an intensive round of questioning.
The NIA is set to begin its interrogation today, and sources suggest that the questioning may begin around 10 am at the agency’s headquarters. During the questioning, the agency is expected to grill him with over 30 key questions related to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, his association with David Coleman Headley, and his alleged links with Pakistan’s intelligence agency – the ISI.
A look at possible questions NIA likely to ask Rana:
- Where was your location during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks?
- Why did you visit India between November 8, 2008 and November 21, 2008, and which places did you visit during that period?
- Who all did you meet and where during your stay in India?
- Were you aware that a major terrorist attack was going to take place in Mumbai on November 26, 2008?
- Since when have you known David Coleman Headley? Why did you help him enter India with a fake visa?
- What did David Headley tell you about the places he visited in India?
- What was David Headley’s purpose for coming to India? What conversations did you have with him during his stay in the country?
- What was your and Headley’s role in the Mumbai attacks?
- How did you help David Headley in obtaining an Indian visa?
- In planning the Mumbai attacks, did you help Headley or did he help you? What were the roles of each of you in the conspiracy?
- How did Headley assist you in gathering information for the attacks?
- Why did you leave your profession as a doctor to choose the path of terrorism? What was Headley’s objective?
- Who had connections with the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI — you or Headley? Did Headley introduce you to them, or did you introduce him?
- How do you know Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed? When and where did you meet him for the first time?
- What was the nature of your relationship with Hafiz Saeed?
- How did you assist Lashkar-e-Taiba? What did the group offer you in return for your help?
- Apart from Hafiz Saeed, how many other members of Lashkar-e-Taiba do you know? When was the last time you communicated with them?
- How many members are there in Lashkar-e-Taiba, what is its organisational structure, and how does the recruitment process work? Who is responsible for it?
- Where does Lashkar-e-Taiba get its funding from? Who are the key individuals involved in raising these funds?
- Who supplies the weapons? Which countries are involved in providing arms to your group?
- How do the Pakistani Army and ISI assist your group?
- How do you select targets for the attacks? Does the ISI give you instructions on which targets to strike?
- Who provides training to the members of Lashkar-e-Taiba and HuJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami)?
- How many ISI officers train a particular group, and what kind of training do they provide? What is taught during the training sessions, and what activities are included in the training?
- What was ISI’s plan? Were the locations that were attacked the only intended targets, or were there other places in India that you couldn’t target as planned?
- Were only Major Iqbal and Sameer Ali from the ISI involved in the attacks, or were there other senior officers as well? If so, who were they?
- Who finances the planning of terrorist activities? Apart from the ISI, is the Pakistani government also aware of these terror plots?
- Who gives instructions to the terrorists during the attack?
- What is told to the young men to prepare them for fidayeen (suicide) attacks?
- How many people are usually involved in planning an attack, and what kind of roles are they given?
2008 Mumbai terror attack
It is to be noted here that Rana is accused of conspiring with Headley and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the three-day terror siege of India’s financial capital. On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked in Mumbai using the sea route in the Arabian Sea. As many as 166 people were killed in the nearly 60-hour assault.
