The questioning of American Lashker-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley is going to revolve around the places he had visited after the Mumbai terror attacks and the people he had remained in touch with during his stay in India. A three-member team of National Investigation Agency, which along with a public prosecutor is expected to leave for the United States on Monday.
All bottlenecks have been removed and a new team will be sent to the US to pursue the matter of India's access to David Headley, who has confessed to his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said on Saturday.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian national accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited to India from the United States. Rana's interrogation is expected to shed light on the role of Pakistani state actors in the attacks, which claimed 166 lives. Indian authorities are particularly interested in his travels across India in the days leading up to the attacks, including visits to Hapur, Agra, Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. Rana's extradition follows a lengthy legal battle, with the US Supreme Court ultimately denying his application to challenge it. Rana is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. The investigation into the Mumbai attacks has implicated senior members of terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI), as well as officials from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The issue of granting India access to Lashkar-e Tayiba operative David Headley is being taken up by the US government at the highest level, its Ambassador Timothy J Roemer said Monday as he met Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi.
The home ministry will soon write to the US department of justice seeking a date for having direct access to Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley, who is currently under American custody.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of David Coleman Headley, could be extradited to India in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Rana's travel history in parts of north and south India before the attacks in 2008 is expected to provide crucial leads for the investigation. His extradition would mark the third person to be tried in India for the attacks, after Ajmal Kasab and Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal.
Former interior minister Rehman Malik has termed Pakistani-American terrorist's testimony in the 2008 Mumbai attack case as "a pack of lies".
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian national accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is likely to be lodged in a high-security ward in Tihar jail upon his extradition from the US. Rana, a close associate of David Coleman Headley, a US citizen who was also involved in the attacks, will be brought to India after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition was rejected by the US Supreme Court. The attacks, which lasted nearly 60 hours, resulted in the deaths of 166 people and sent shockwaves across the country.
David Headley and Tawahur Rana who had surveyed several targets in Mumbai which were attacked by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba were in Pakistan at the time of the Mumbai attack, Home secretary G K Pillai said.
Security has been heightened outside the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in New Delhi, where Tahawwur Rana, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is being held following his extradition from the United States. Rana was brought to India after the US Supreme Court dismissed his review plea against extradition. The NIA secured an 18-day custody of Rana after he was produced before a special court in Delhi. Additional police and paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure law and order. The extradition of Rana, a close associate of David Coleman Headley, the main conspirator of the Mumbai attacks, is a significant development in the investigation into the 2008 attacks.
A Delhi court has sought the trial records of the 26/11 terror attack from a Mumbai court ahead of the expected extradition of the crime's alleged mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana to India from the US. The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for Rana's extradition, dismissing his final legal challenge against the move.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on Wednesday said that a Letters Rogatory shall be obtained from the special Mumbai court -- where the 26/11 terror attack trial is currently going on -- seeking information about Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives David Headley and Tahawwur Rana and their involvement in the terror strike.Letters Rogatory is 'a customary method of obtaining judicial assistance from abroad in the absence of a treaty or executive agreement between two countries.
United States President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the extradition of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India and said he will face justice.
'There is nothing in Headley's testimony. Where is he saying anything? He says, 'I don't know, I don't know.' He says 'I overheard somebody's speech.' Is this evidence? This is double hearsay.' 'If this (the Ishrat Jahan encounter) investigation is really carried out further it points to the heart of BJP's political leadership. And therefore they want you to distract you and say terrorist, terrorist.'
India is likely to press for access to Tahawwur Hussain Rana, and wife and two girlfriends of Mumbai attack terrorist David Headley during Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's visit to the United States next week.
Faiza Outalha, an estranged wife of American-born Lashkar e Tayiba terrorist David Headley, has replied to all questions of the National Investigation Agency relating to her knowledge of the conspiracy behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun questioning Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the deadly strikes. Rana, who was extradited from the US, is being held at the NIA headquarters in New Delhi. The interrogation is focused on his possible connection with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and his suspected links with the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Tahawwur Rana, accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is expected to be extradited to India from the United States soon. The US Supreme Court denied his last-ditch effort to stop his extradition, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities. Rana's extradition is expected to help probe agencies expose the role of Pakistani state actors behind the attacks and shed new light on the investigation. He is associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
The National Investigation Agency has informed a Delhi court that Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Rana could spill the beans on the ongoing and future terror plans of outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and its chief Hafiz Saeed for India.
Mumbai attack terrorist David Headley, who is currently in American custody, has been opposing his further interrogation by Indian investigators.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the key mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is being interrogated for eight to ten hours daily by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to unravel a larger conspiracy behind the strikes. Rana, who was extradited from the US, is being grilled by NIA investigators to probe a larger conspiracy behind the attacks, in which 166 people were killed and over 238 injured. He is being allowed to meet his lawyer and is being provided with basic necessities. The investigators hope to find some important leads on his travels in parts of northern and southern India days before the carnage in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
Headley is currently serving 35 years in an American prison after being convicted of being involved in the planning and execution of the Mumbai terrorist attack.
Investigators suspect that similar terror plots were devised for multiple cities across India.To piece together the full scope of the conspiracy, officials may take Rana to various locations, retracing events from 17 years ago.
The US-based wife of American-born LeT terrorist David Headley and his business partner have "refused" to answer questions posed by NIA, citing a privacy clause.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, 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 the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
A Delhi court on Monday extended by 12 more days the NIA custody of 26/11 Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana.
However, the Pakistani-American LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi stopped him, saying something more "adventurous" was in store for him.
Opposition leaders in India have expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of the deportation of Indian illegal immigrants from the United States during his recent visit. They criticized the manner in which the Indians were sent back, shackled and handcuffed on a military aircraft. The leaders also discussed the need for India to address the root causes of migration and the importance of national interest in diplomatic relations with the United States.
The National Investigation Agency, probing the conspiracy angle in 26/11 Mumbai attacks, will be holding a video conferencing with the US's Department of Justice for providing "limited access" to alleged Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley and his accomplice Tahawwur Rana.
A multi-agency team has gone to the US and all paperwork and legal issues are being completed with US authorities to bring him to India, they said.
The US Supreme Court has denied the application of Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, seeking a stay on his extradition to India. Rana, currently detained in Los Angeles, had submitted the application after Associate Justice Elena Kagan initially denied it. Despite a renewed appeal, the Supreme Court ultimately rejected the request.
Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, who led India's arguments for the extradition of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana in a United States court, is set to lead the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) prosecution in Delhi.
A total of nine terror sites in Pakistan, including five in Pojk, linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (Jem), were targeted with meticulous planning to avoid civilian casualties.
Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 terror attacks case, stayed at a hotel in Mumbai's Powai area for two days in November 2008 ahead of the attacks, where he discussed about the crowded places in south Mumbai with a witness in the case, the police said on Tuesday.
'In the long run, because of international pressure, Headley's testimony will become credible in Pakistan also. And if Pakistan decides to examine him as a witness in their trial then I think there is a chance of conviction against Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi.'
The 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman would also be questioned on his suspected links with the officials of Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and his association with terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which had orchestrated the attacks.
'It is ensured that no adversaries or people who oppose Tahawwur Rana's philosophy are housed in the same ward or jail.' 'Additionally, it is ensured that he does not have any prior contacts within that jail.' 'So, the lodgment of such a high-profile prisoner is done very carefully.'
A court in New Delhi has sent Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to 18 days of National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody. The court cited the need for sustained interrogation to uncover the extent of the conspiracy and the involvement of multiple targets across India, including New Delhi. Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman and close associate of 26/11 conspirator David Coleman Headley, was extradited to India after the US Supreme Court dismissed his review plea against his extradition.
'India has established probable cause to prosecute him for his role in terrorist attacks that resulted in 166 deaths and 239 injuries'
In such big cases, approver makes the task easier to prove someone guilty in the court of law, says M N Singh.
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