NIA Court Finds Solid Grounds to Link Tahawwur Rana to 26/11 Mumbai Attacks, Calls for Deep Interrogation:

An NIA court observed that the investigating agency possesses adequate material to show a prima facie case and likely prove the involvement of Tahawwur Rana regarding the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, while considering that he was one of the earliest accused persons to be detained in relation to the matter.

The NIA court also remarked that the conspiracy of the terror attack goes beyond the borders of India, and included other cities, including the national capital, as multiple identified potential targets for attack.

Rana was taken to the NIA headquarters on Friday after a Delhi court permitted the NIA to keep him in custody for 18 days following his extradition from the US. Allowing custody, additional sessions judge (NIA) Chander Jit Singh stated that sustained custodial interrogation was essential to uncover the complex web of deceit surrounding the case, which emerged from the extradition.

"There is sufficient material to say that the allegations in the present matter relate to the threat to safety and security of the nation. The materials demonstrates that the conspiracy travels outside the geographical limits of India and several targets in the form of different places in several cities of India including the capital city were sought to be identified. So, for getting to the bottom of the matter and to dig the truths in the matter which is based on a conspiracy, a sustained custodial interrogation is warranted," The Times of India quoted the Judge as saying in his order.

“His (Rana) prolonged custody has been justified to enable comprehensive interrogation in order to peel back the layers of the stated conspiracy. We have reason to believe that the methods used in the Mumbai attacks were meant to be carried out in other cities also, which made the investigators look into the possibility of the existence of other such plans,” the judge was informed by the NIA.”

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The court added that since Rana is the first accused arrested in the matter, the NIA should be allotted reasonable time so that it can undertake investigation in the matter and prepare documents which can be facts in totality in an orderly manner.

The judge in addition pointed out that while subsection 167 of the old CrPC to this case applies birthers the limit of custody to 15 days, under UAPA section 43-D there can be a maximum of 30 days of custody.

When the court put the question to him, he answered by saying, "There is no one who would be willing to act in my behalf." But he also accepted that the NIA did serve him in writing the documents containing the reasons for the arrest.

Taking into account Rana's demand that no attorney who represents him attempts to gain notoriety from him, the special judge warned the legal aid counsel (LACS) against discussing the 26/11 attack accused in the press. The court also ordered the NIA to perform a medical check-up on Rana every day, in addition to enabling him to consult his attorney two times a week.

“In the event that the media does not already possess such information, the judge ordered that it shall remain confidential.”

Rana is in the custody of the court for various crimes including; conspiracy, assassination, carrying out acts of terrorism, and issuing false documents of identity within the country.