Tahawwur Rana in NIA custody for 18 days; Email trails, travel logs reveal key role in 26/11 plot
New Delhi (PTI): Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, will be questioned in detail by the National Investigation Agency to unravel the conspiracy behind the deadly 26/11 terror strike and his role as a planner of the attacks after a court here granted the agency his 18-day custody on early Friday.
The anti-terror agency had produced Rana before the NIA Special Court at Patiala House after formally placing him under arrest on his arrival here on Thursday evening, following his extradition from the US.
Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) judge Chander Jit Singh sent Rana to 18-day custody while the NIA sought 20-day custody.
Rana was brought to the Patiala House Court in a cavalcade, including a jail van, an armoured SWAT vehicle and an ambulance, late Thursday night.
Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and Special Public Prosecutor Narender Mann represented the NIA.
Before the proceedings, the judge asked Rana if he had a lawyer.
After Rana said he did not have a lawyer, the judge informed him that a counsel was being provided to him from the Delhi Legal Services Authority. After that, advocate Piyush Sachdeva was appointed to represent him.
The 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, a close associate of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks main conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen, was brought to India after the US Supreme Court on April 4 dismissed his review plea against his extradition.
The agency told the court that Rana's interrogation was necessary to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the 2008 attacks. It also told the court that it had to look into his role as a planner of the attacks.
Before Rana was brought to the Patiala House Court, Delhi Police removed mediapersons and members of the public from the complex, citing security concerns.
Police authorities said, "No one would be permitted inside".
After the court order, Rana was transported to the NIA headquarters in a heavily-secured motorcade comprising Delhi Police's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and other security personnel.
Rana will be kept in a highly secured cell inside the anti-terror agency's head office at CGO complex here, 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," a statement issued by the probe agency said soon after the court's order.
The NIA said that as part of the criminal conspiracy, accused no. 1, Headley, had discussed the entire operation with Rana before his visit to India.
Anticipating potential challenges, Headley sent an email to Rana detailing his belongings and assets, the NIA told the court, adding that Headley also informed Rana about the involvement of Pakistani nationals Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman, who are also accused in the case, in the plot.
The 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.
The extradition finally came through after Rana's various litigations and appeals, including an emergency application before the US Supreme Court, were rejected.
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Need to amend Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976 to save trees in state: Minister Khandre
Bengaluru: Minister for Forest and Environment Eshwara B Khandre expressed worry over the illegal felling of trees on government land, forests and roadsides and opined that there was a need to amend the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976 to handle the problem.
Khandre, who addressed the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) Monthly Management Review (MMR) meeting on Thursday, said that there was a need to take strict action in the matter by imposing higher penalty on those axing trees illegally.
He also cited the Supreme Court’s objection to cutting trees in large numbers, saying protection of trees was necessary in the backdrop of increasing levels of global warming and climate change. He directed the officials to follow the Supreme Court’s view over the indiscriminate axing of trees, adding that officials should not grant permission to unnecessary felling of trees.
In addition, the minister pointed out that citizens and environmentalists had expressed outrage over the axing of 40 trees in Mysuru recently and the proposal to fell 368 trees near the Cantonment Railway Station in Bengaluru.
Khandre said there should be zero tolerance for encroachment of forest land and, in cases of encroachment post-2015, the encroachers should be evicted without leniency. He also directed officials for him information on encroachments, evictions and actions that had been taken in the last two years.
