NIA begins grilling Tahawwur Rana
Rana was produced before a special NIA court after his formal arrest on arrival at Delhi airport on Thursday, following his successful extradition from US
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun questioning of Mumbai attacks mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana to unravel the larger conspiracy behind the deadly terror strikes of 2008, official sources said. The investigation is being led by NIA’s Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Jaya Roy, who is also the Chief Investigating Officer, they said.
Also read: How Indian security officials paved way for 26/11 accused Rana's extradition
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.
Focus on possible LeT link
Rana is being kept in a highly-secured cell, inside the anti-terror agency's head office at CGO complex in New Delhi, 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.
“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.
Extradition and arrest
The anti-terror agency had produced Rana before the NIA Special Court at Patiala House after formally placing him under arrest on his arrival at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Thursday (April 10) evening, following his successful extradition from the US.
Also read: Tahawwur Rana's extradition big success of Modi govt: Amit Shah
The court on Friday sent Rana to 18-day NIA custody, following which he was brought from Patiala House courts complex to the NIA headquarters in a heavily-secured motorcade comprising Delhi Police's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and other security personnel.
Where is Rana being kept?
Rana will be kept in a highly secured cell inside the anti-terror agency's head office at CGO complex in Delhi, officials 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.
Also read: US SC rejects 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking stay on extradition to India
How NIA secured extradition
NIA had secured Rana's extradition from the US following years of sustained efforts, and after the terror mastermind's last-ditch efforts to get a stay on his extradition from the US failed.
Rana was brought to New Delhi Thursday evening, escorted by teams of NSG and NIA, comprising senior officials, on a special plane from Los Angeles.
The extradition finally came through after Rana's various litigations and appeals, including an emergency application before the US Supreme Court, were rejected.
Also read: Extradition from US: The 'conduct' vs 'elements' factor that worked against Rana
With the coordinated efforts of India's Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs, along with the relevant authorities in the United States, the surrender warrant for the wanted terrorist was eventually secured and the extradition was carried out, the statement said.
Follow this space for more live updates
Live Updates
- 10 April 2025 11:38 AM GMT
Former Maharashtra CM demands fair trial
Congress leader and former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan demanded a fair trial for Tahawwur Rana.
"Rana has not confessed to his crime, while David Coleman Headley has admitted to having played a role. So, the American Government decided to make Headley an informer...They have included him in their drug enforcement agency. So that the drug smuggling can be checked. He is now on the American payroll. After a long battle from 2009 to 2025, today one of them is being brought back...There will be a trial. We demand that just like there was a proper trial under Indian laws for Kasab, he had the right to speak for himself and have a lawyer - he was given a lawyer and he had the opportunity to appeal in the high court as well as the Supreme Court. Judgement was pronounced after all of these; similarly, when there is trial for Rana, he too should be given legal rights, and he will have to accept whatever punishment is given to him. A kangaroo court will not function in our country," Chavan told ANI.
- 10 April 2025 11:23 AM GMT
Pakistan distances itself from 26/11 plotter
The Pakistan foreign office on Thursday quickly distanced itself from 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana and said Rana is a Canadian citizen.
“Tahawwur Rana has not renewed his Pakistani documents in the last two decades. His Canadian nationality is very clear,” the Pakistan foreign office said in a statement.
- 10 April 2025 11:21 AM GMT
Rana extradition big win for India: 26/11 survivor
Devika Rotawan, a survivor of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, said on Thursday that the extradition of key accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana from the US was a big win for India and demanded other conspirators holed up in Pakistan be also exposed and brought to book.
Rotawan, a key witness in the 26/11 case who identified terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Kasab (the lone surviving attacker) in court during the trial, sought capital punishment for Rana (64).
At just nine years old, Rotawan was caught in the crossfire at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai, one of the sites attacked by terrorists on the night of November 26, 2008. She was struck by a bullet in her leg. Her testimony was crucial in the trial of Kasab, who was later convicted by a Mumbai court for his role in the attacks and hanged in 2012.
Talking about Rana's extradition to India, Rotawan, now 25, said she was happy that India has got one of the conspirators of the terror strikes to face justice in the country.
"This is a big win for India, and I want to thank the Indian government for this achievement. With Rana being brought to India to face justice, it is the beginning of the end of terrorism in India, " Rotawan told PTI.
Indian security agencies should gather more information from Rana during his interrogation and expose all terror elements still holed up in Pakistan, she averred.
"Rana should get capital punishment, but elements that are still sponsoring terrorism from Pakistan and encouraging terror activities should also get strict punishment," the survivor asserted.
On November 26, 2008, Rotawan, along with her father and brother, was going to Pune and was sitting between platform numbers 12 and 13 waiting for the train when the crowded station came under attack.
- 10 April 2025 11:17 AM GMT
Everyone involved in 26/11 attacks conspiracy must face court of justice, says Tharoor
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday welcomed the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 case, and said everyone associated with the conspiracy of the Mumbai terror attacks must face the court of justice.
He also described Rana's extradition as a "step forward for justice".
Rana, 64, is a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of one of the main conspirators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, is being brought to India after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition failed as the US Supreme Court justices rejected his application.
Talking to PTI, Tharoor said, "I think it's a good thing that we have been able to get at least one person extradited. 26/11 (Mumbai terror attacks) was such a horror for our country, in which 166 people were killed brutally. Everyone associated with that conspiracy needs to come before the court of justice." "I am really hoping that we will be able, through the investigation and through the interrogation, to find out more details about what happened, how it happened, how it was run, and equally that this man will be brought to justice. What was done was really terrible," the former diplomat said.
The Congress MP from Kerala said another key conspirator of the 26/11 attacks, David Coleman Headley, was still out of the clutches of the Indian security agencies.
"I think it is important for the people of India that we get some sort of progress towards the closure. That fellow, David Coleman Headley, is still in America. They are not willing to send him to us because of some plea bargain. But we really need to get to the bottom of all of this as much as possible," he said.
- 10 April 2025 11:15 AM GMT
BJP hails Rana extradition, claims Congress was 'soft' on terror during its rule for 'vote bank'
Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Rana's extradition reflects "new India's" zero-tolerance resolve towards terrorism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP said on Thursday while accusing the Congress of being soft on terror for "vote-bank politics".
Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, is likely to be brought to India in a special flight on Thursday after all hurdles for his extradition were removed by the US, according to people familiar with the matter.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Rana's extradition was a "big achievement" of the Modi government and its security agencies.
It is also a tribute to the security personnel who made the supreme sacrifice while fighting Pakistan-sponsored terrorists and a "big step" towards rendering justice to more than 160 people, including those from the US, Israel, France, Germany, Italy and other countries, killed in the attack, he said.
"This extradition is not an ordinary extradition. This is a reflection of new India's resolve which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described in 2019, saying that if anyone dared to attack India's unity, integrity, respect and its innocent people, the new India would bring such terrorists to justice," Poonawalla said.
The BJP spokesperson said Rana was being brought back to make him face justice due to a "sea change" in the "attitude and mindset" of the government under Modi towards terrorism and terror attacks.
"Earlier, especially between 2004-14 (when the Congress-led UPA was at the helm), there was not a single month when there was no major terror attack in some major city of India," he said.
- 10 April 2025 11:05 AM GMT
Modi govt benefited from the diplomacy begun under the UPA: Congress
With Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana being extradited from the US, the Congress Thursday said the Modi government did not initiate the process, instead it benefited from the "mature, consistent and strategic diplomacy" that began under the UPA.
Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government did not secure any breakthrough to make the extradition possible, nor is it the result of any grandstanding.
Chidambaram added that it was a testament to what the Indian state can achieve when diplomacy, law enforcement, and international cooperation are pursued sincerely and without any kind of chest-thumping.
"While the Modi government is rushing to take credit for this development, the truth is far from their spin," Chidambaram said in a statement.
This extradition is the culmination of a decade-and-a-half of painstaking diplomatic, legal, and intelligence efforts which were initiated, led, and sustained by the UPA government in close coordination with the United States, he said.
