Tahawwur Rana, currently in the custody of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA), has reportedly confessed to aiding the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and playing a key role as a “trusted agent” of the Pakistan Army. Indian authorities extradited the Canadian national and former Pakistan Army captain from the United States on April 10 and lodged him in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
Tahawwur Rana Trained by LeT, Surveyed Shivaji Terminus
During questioning by both the NIA and the Mumbai Crime Branch, Tahawwur Rana purportedly disclosed that he and his boyhood pal David Coleman Headley went through intensive training by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistan-based terror group behind the attacks.
Describing LeT as “primarily an intelligence-gathering organisation,” citing unnamed sources, India Today reported that Rana admitted to surveying potential targets in Mumbai before the attacks.
He also confirmed that he was present in Mumbai during the 26/11 terrorist attacks and described it as a key part of the operation planned in conjunction with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
“He inspected locations such as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and thought that 26/11 attacks were conducted in collaboration with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),” sources said, quoting Rana.
Part of a Broader Terror Network
Rana’s supposed confessions directly implicate him in the planning and surveillance that led up to the 2008 attacks, which killed 166 individuals at several high-profile locations, such as the Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Trident, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and the Jewish Centre in Mumbai.
The NIA has indicted Rana under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for conspiring with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) operatives, as well as other Pakistan-based handlers. Investigators accuse him of assisting David Headley in conducting surveillance in Mumbai, which played a pivotal role in executing the attacks.
Rana also asserted that the Pakistani Army had earlier sent him to Saudi Arabia during the Khaleej (Gulf War, underscoring his long-term association with the military establishment.