26/11 Mumbai terror attack case: Tahawwur Hussain Rana set up immigration office, met David Headley in 2005

National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing a “larger conspiracy” into the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terrorist attack after the arrest and extradition of Canadian national Tahawwur Hussain Rana, learnt that the accused had set an immigration business and met with his childhood friend from Pakistan, David Coleman Headley, a US national, in 2005, said officials.

The federal agency plans to file a supplementary charge sheet after the completion of investigation against Rana, who is in an 18-day custody, they said.

“The two started conspiring to carry out attacks in India between 2005 and 2008, and assist banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),” said one of the officials, who did not wish to be identified. “The targets of HuJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami), LeT and officials of the Pakistan Army (who are accused in the case) were Indians and tourists. Their targets were tourist places like Goa and Bombay where they had done recce several times.”

According to NIA, the Mumbai branch of Rana’s business was set up for Headley to visit India and carry out reconnaissance for various high-profile venues, not limited to Mumbai. While granting 18-day custody to the agency, a special NIA court on Friday observed that the 26/11 conspiracy went beyond India’s borders.

“There is enough material to say that allegations in the present matter pertain to the safety and security of the nation. The material produced on record reflects that the conspiracy in question travels beyond the geographical border of India, and multiple targets in the form of various places in multiple cities of India, including the national capital, were sought to be identified. Thus, to reach the root of the matter and to unearth the facts in the matter which are laid in a deep-rooted conspiracy, a sustained custodial interrogation is required,” the judge said in the order.

Since Rana is the first accused apprehended in the case, “the investigation agency should get a fair chance to thoroughly investigate the matter so as to present before the court complete facts in a holistic manner”, the court observed.In a statement on Saturday, the US Department of Justice said, “After the attacks were complete, Rana allegedly told Headley that the Indians ‘deserved it’. In an intercepted conversation with Headley, Rana allegedly commended the nine LeT terrorists who had been killed committing the attacks, saying that ‘(t)hey should be given Nishan-e-Haider’ – Pakistan’s ‘highest award for gallantry in battle’, which is reserved for fallen soldiers.”