NIA gets 18-day custody of Tahawwur Rana, the investigating agency had sought 20-day remand

New Delhi. Tahawwur Hussain Rana, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, has been sent to NIA custody. During a late-night hearing, the Patiala House Court ordered Rana to be sent to 18-day NIA custody. Special NIA Judge Chander Jeet Singh gave this verdict on the NIA’s petition. 64-year-old Rana was brought to the Patiala House Court late Thursday night amid tight security. During this, a large convoy including a prison van, armored SWAT vehicle and ambulance reached the court. The investigating agency had sought 20-day custody of Tahawwur Rana, but the court granted 18-day custody.

After this, Tahawwur Rana has been taken from the court to the NIA headquarters under strict surveillance. Tahawwur Rana will spend the night at the NIA headquarters. According to sources, Rana will be kept in the lockup on the ground floor of the NIA headquarters. This morning, the NIA’s special team will interrogate Tahawwur Rana. This interrogation will be done in the questioning room on the third floor of the headquarters.

NIA gave these arguments in the court for custody
According to sources, the NIA had sought 20-day custody of Rana, saying that it has strong evidence including some important emails, on the basis of which he has to be interrogated. The agency told the court that Rana’s interrogation is necessary to uncover the wider conspiracy of the 2008 attack. Rana needs to be interrogated in custody to confirm the existing evidence and other facts.

According to the news agency, the NIA said that Rana had played an important role in planning the attack and accused number-1 David Headley had discussed the entire operation with him before coming to India. Keeping in mind the possible challenges, Headley had sent an email to Rana informing him about his properties and other details. Apart from this, he also told Rana about the role of Pakistan-based terrorists Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rahman.

When the court asked Rana about his lawyer
Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and special public prosecutor Narendra Mann argued in the court on behalf of the NIA. When the court asked Rana if he had a lawyer, he said that he did not. After this, advocate Piyush Sachdeva was appointed to plead for Rana on behalf of the Delhi Legal Services Authority.

Before bringing Rana to the court, the Delhi Police, citing security reasons, removed the media and common citizens from the court premises and said that no one is allowed to go inside.

The investigating agency issued a press release informing that Tahawwur Hussain Rana was taken into custody on Thursday evening. This action was taken on the orders of a special court in Delhi. The NIA arrested Rana at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport after extradition from the US. After this, he was produced in the NIA special court located at Patiala House. Now Tahawwur Rana will remain in NIA custody for 18 days. During this time, the NIA will interrogate him and gather information about the entire conspiracy of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. 166 people died in these attacks and more than 238 people were injured.

The NIA further said that it got Rana extradited from the US after several years of efforts. Rana made several attempts to stop the extradition in the US courts, but in the end all the petitions were rejected. Even the US Supreme Court did not provide relief. India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs completed this operation in collaboration with the US FBI, US Department of Justice and other agencies. Rana was brought to Delhi from Los Angeles, USA by a special plane, which also had senior NIA and NSG officials.

Rana reached India in the evening by a special plane
The special plane carrying terrorist Rana reached Delhi’s Palam Airport at around 6:30 pm on Thursday. As soon as he got out of the plane, the NIA team took him into custody. The investigating agency said that he was arrested after completing all the necessary legal formalities. A statement issued by the NIA said, “The NIA investigation team present at Palam Airport arrested Rana as soon as he got off the plane. He is a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, who was mainly living in Chicago, America.”

After this, he was produced late night in the special NIA court located at Patiala House Court in Delhi. The agency sought a 20-day remand from the court, saying that it has solid evidence related to the role of the accused, including emails and other digital records. After a long debate, the court gave its verdict late at night and granted 18 days of custody to the accused.

Extradition became possible after a long legal battle
Rana’s extradition was made possible after a long legal battle in the US, which is being considered a major diplomatic and investigative success for India. He has been accused of playing a key role in the conspiracy of the 26/11 attacks, in which 166 people lost their lives. Tahawwur Rana is accused of playing a key role in the conspiracy of the 26/11 attacks along with Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to sources, the NIA will question Tahawwur Rana about the conspiracy of the Mumbai attacks, his relationship with other accused and foreign networks.