Investigators on Friday started grilling 2008 terror assault key accused Tahawwur Rana about his co-conspirators in Pakistan and have been set to confront him with a “protected witness” who allegedly obtained David Coleman Headley in Mumbai in 2006 in addition to organized logistics and lodging for him, based on senior officers and investigation particulars seen by HT .
The interrogation by officers from the Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA) and different intelligence companies started hours after a particular courtroom in Delhi despatched Rana to 18 days in NIA custody within the early hours of Friday. After the courtroom order round 2am, Rana was dropped at the NIA headquarters on Lodhi Highway and allowed to relaxation until the morning.
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That is the primary time Rana is being questioned by Indian investigators. In June 2010, a NIA crew questioned Headley within the US. On the coronary heart of the interrogation is the “protected witness” who’s linked to Rana’s childhood good friend and key conspirator Headley, and is vital to nailing Rana’s position, stated the officers quoted above.
“This protected witness was very near Rana and could possibly be confronted with him quickly,” stated officers, requesting anonymity.
The id of this particular person was saved confidential even within the courtroom paperwork, to guard him from hurt from Pakistan’s state actors and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which have been concerned within the 26/11 assaults.
In response to the NIA probe particulars accessed by HT, when the planning for the assaults was occurring round 2006, Headley first went to Pakistan to fulfill with LeT leaders and different co-conspirators – and “obtained directions to take normal movies of Mumbai, together with of the Taj Mahal lodge”.
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He visited India in September 2006 and took movies as requested by Pakistan primarily based handlers.
“Throughout this go to, Headley was obtained by a person near Rana, who’s a protected witness now. This particular person obtained a name from Rana after which this particular person organized lodging and different logistics for Headley,” stated an officer, requesting anonymity.
NIA officers didn’t disclose how this “protected witness” knew Rana effectively sufficient to rearrange lodging and logistics for Headley on his request.
“Rana may quickly be confronted with the witness about his connections in India and locations Headley visited and folks he met throughout his a number of journeys to India between 2006 and 2009, in addition to about some other suspects who could have traveled to India throughout that point,” stated a second officer, requesting anonymity.
Apart from the protected witness, NIA can also be counting on essential calls of Rana and Healey, recorded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2009, as proof within the case.
The company will even query different people who have been related to Rana’s Immigration Regulation Centre workplace in Mumbai.
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“The investigating crew is presently asking him about his conversations with the LeT, military and ISI handlers of Headley primarily based in Pakistan, earlier than and after the assaults,” stated a 3rd officer, requesting anonymity.
Rana was introduced again to India in a particular plane, a Gulfstream G550, that first stopped in Dubai, earlier than touchdown in Delhi at round 6pm on Thursday, ending a 16-year-long wait to prosecute one of many planners of the deadliest terror strike in India that killed 166 individuals and injured 238 others.
Over the following 18 days, Rana’s interrogation, which is being videographed, will cowl your entire conspiracy hatched someday in 2005 when Headley was ordered by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to journey to India for conducting reconnaissance of targets for a serious assault, the third official added.
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The officers cited above stated the preliminary questioning focussed on the hyperlink between Rana and Headley. Rana met one of many planners of the assault in Dubai within the fall of 2008, when he alongside along with his spouse deliberate a visit to China, India and Dubai. This co-planner suggested Rana to not go to India as a result of assaults have been imminent, NIA’s paperwork reveal. “Rana is being requested about this Dubai co-conspirator,” stated the official quoted above.
A fourth officer pointed to NIA investigation paperwork that stated Rana sometimes communicated straight with a few of Headley’s contacts in Pakistan and handed on info as and when required.
“Rana was being requested about finishing a visa utility for Headley for which false info was submitted to the Indian authorities, together with workplace lease paperwork, and paperwork submitted to the Reserve Financial institution of India for opening a checking account,” stated a second officer, requesting anonymity.
“Since Headley traveled to India on quite a few events to make movies of the Taj Mahal lodge, different targets, touchdown websites, routes and so forth, Rana can also be being requested about surveillance movies and photos he’s conscious of and seen by him,” stated the second officer.
Moreover, NIA’s inquiries to Rana included different plots by LeT and ISI to hold out assaults on Indian targets, contemplating Headley had carried out reconnaissance of a number of targets – together with Chabad Homes in Delhi, Goa, and Pushkar, in addition to the Nationwide Defence School (NDC) in 2009.
“Rana’s extended custody was deemed essential to facilitate an intensive interrogation aimed toward uncovering deeper layers of the conspiracy. We suspect that the techniques used within the Mumbai assaults have been meant for execution in different cities as effectively, prompting investigators to look at whether or not comparable plots have been developed elsewhere,” stated the third officer.
Over the following few weeks, Rana is likely to be taken to Mumbai, Agra, Ahmedabad and Cochin to establish the people he met and locations he visited, stated the primary officer.
Rana is barely the second particular person to face trial in India for the 2008 assaults, and the primary time that Indian investigators have in custody a mastermind of the strikes that uncovered the nation’s under-preparedness, triggered the entire overhaul of the safety and intelligence equipment, and led to the creation of NIA.
