A Delhi court on Friday sent Tahawwur Hussain Rana, an accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, to judicial custody in Tihar Jail until June 6.
Rana was produced before Special NIA Judge Chander Jit Singh, a day before his National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody was set to end. The court accepted the NIA’s request for judicial custody and ordered Rana to be lodged in Tihar Jail.
Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian national and a close associate of 26/11 key conspirator David Coleman Headley (also known as Daood Gilani), was extradited to India after the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed his review plea against extradition on April 4.
Following his arrival in India, the court initially remanded Rana to NIA custody for 18 days on April 11. This was later extended by 12 more days on April 28 after the agency argued that Rana could provide crucial information about the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba and its chief Hafiz Saeed, including details about ongoing and future plots against India.
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The NIA told the court that it was interrogating Rana in a careful and measured manner, keeping his health in consideration, contrary to his allegations of being questioned for 20 hours a day. The agency also cited his lack of cooperation during interrogation as a reason to seek extended custody.
On April 30, the court granted permission to the NIA to collect Rana’s voice and handwriting samples as part of the ongoing investigation.
Rana’s alleged role is linked to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, one of the deadliest assaults on Indian soil. On November 26, 2008, ten Pakistani terrorists infiltrated Mumbai via the sea and carried out coordinated attacks on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station, the Taj Mahal and Trident hotels, and the Jewish centre Nariman House. The attacks lasted nearly 60 hours and left 166 people dead.
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