Terror suspect Rana may hold missing links to 26/11 planning, say officials

Guwahati, Apr 13: With the extradition of wanted terrorist Tahawwur Rana from the United States of America, for the first time India managed to bring back a wanted terrorist from a “third country”. Rana is now a Canadian citizen, but India managed to bring him to India from the USA.

Official sources told The Assam Tribune that Rana and terror accused David Colman Hedley studied together in school, and they remained good friends all throughout. Both of them hatched the conspiracy of the Mumbai terror attack of November 26, 2008, and helped terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) to plan the attacks meticulously. The interrogation of Rana will bring to light vital information regarding the planning of the attack.

Sources said Rana started his career in the medical corps of the Pakistan Army, but after he attained the rank of major, he left the army and went to Canada. Later, he became a Canadian citizen. His wife is also a doctor. Immediately after settling down in Canada, he established a centre to facilitate people to obtain visa for different countries. He later sent his friend Hedley with false documents to set up a similar kind of centre in Mumbai. But the main aim of sending Hedley to India was to travel extensively all over Mumbai to find out potential targets for the LeT terrorists.

He also prepared maps of different routes, which the terrorists could take during the attack.

Later, Rana shifted to the USA and started a different business, but he remained a Canadian citizen. After years of efforts, India managed to bring him back for investigation and put him under trial. About the delay in bringing Rana back, sources said that as the terrorist had approached courts, it was a long legal battle, and India could bring him back when all doors were closed on him. The US government extended all possible help to India in this regard. “We still have not been able to bring back Vijay Mallya from Britain. This proves that it takes time to bring back criminals from foreign soil,” sources added.

On the other hand, Hedley pleaded guilty, and he is in prison in the USA. However, sources said that the US authorities allowed Indian security agencies to interrogate Hedley in prison a number of times, and that also helped India in pinning down Rana.

Rana is now in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and sources said that the agency has enough material against him to prosecute him in a court of law. “The Indian agencies thoroughly interrogated Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist of the Mumbai attack who was caught alive. We got detailed information from him. Moreover, interrogation of Hedley provided vital information. Armed with that, Rana will be questioned, and he will also be taken to the places where the attacks took place to prepare a watertight case against him,” sources added.