Delhi court allows NIA to collect voice, handwriting samples of 26/11 key conspirator Tahawwur Rana
The National Investigation Agency arrested 26/11 key conspirator Tahawwur Rana following his extradition from the United States.
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Last Thursday, the court dismissed an application made by Tahawwur Rana seeking permission to speak to his family members. (Source: File)A Delhi court has allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to collect the handwriting and voice samples of Tahawwur Rana, a key conspirator of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Rana arrived in Delhi on April 10, following his extradition from the United States, and was formally arrested by the NIA after completing the necessary legal formalities at the airport.
On April 11, the court of Additional Sessions Judge (NIA) Justice Chander Jit Singh sent Rana to NIA custody for 18 days. After this period expired, he was again produced before the Patiala House Court on April 28, when the court extended his NIA custody by 12 days.
According to sources, the NIA stated that it was dealing with a voluminous record and needed more time to confront Rana with the evidence. The agency also submitted that Rana was not cooperating during the interrogation.
The NIA suspects that Rana was behind similar terrorist plots across India. The agency had earlier sought his custody for 20 days to conduct a detailed investigation and unearth the full conspiracy, with the aim of confronting Rana with evidence.
In the Patiala House Court, senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and Special Public Prosecutor Narender Mann represented the NIA, while legal aid counsels Piyush Sachdev and Lakshya Dheer argued for Rana.
Last Thursday, the court dismissed an application made by Rana seeking permission to speak to his family members. The NIA opposed his application, stating that the investigation was at a crucial stage and that the agency didn’t want any interference. There was also an apprehension, said sources, that Rana might leak sensitive information related to the case.
For now, Rana is allowed to meet his lawyers every other day in the presence of NIA officials, who will be at a hearing distance. He will be provided with a pen and paper during the meeting.
According to the NIA, Rana was also involved in planning future attacks in India and had met Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Abdur Rehman in Dubai ahead of the Mumbai attacks.
Rana is accused of aiding and abetting the reconnaissance carried out by LeT scout David Coleman Headley, with whom he went to school in Pakistan, for the 26/11 attacks and of participating in the conspiracy by providing crucial logistical support to the attackers.
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Rana was arrested in Chicago in 2009, months after the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, in which 166 people were killed.
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