Love For Pak Army Uniform, Meets With ISI: Details From Tahawwur Rana Probe

In a high-security chamber deep inside the fortified headquarters of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), interrogation began Friday of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Pakistani-origin Canadian national extradited from the United States in connection with the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. According to NIA sources, on Day 1 of interrogation, Rana remained largely uncooperative, offering limited information.

What Tahawwur Rana Said

According to initial disclosures, NIA learned that Rana belongs to Chichawatni, a village in Pakistan's Punjab province. His father, a school principal, has three sons - one of whom is now serving as a psychiatrist in the Pakistani army, and another who is employed as a journalist. Rana himself attended the Cadet College Hasanabdal, where he first came into contact with David Coleman Headley, another key operative in the Mumbai attacks - currently jailed in the US. 

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In 1997, Rana emigrated to Canada, accompanied by his wife, a practising physician named Samraz Rana Akhtar. There, he launched an immigration consultancy and later expanded into a halal meat business. This immigration business became a front to mask terror activities, with Headley posing as a consultant.

After getting a medical degree, Rana joined the Pakistani army's medical corps. According to NIA sources, even after leaving service, he often wore military fatigues while meeting high-profile individuals associated with Pakistan's military intelligence wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives. He is said to have regularly visited camps associated with terror outfits clad in uniform.

The Sajid Mir Connection

One of Rana's regular contacts, investigators say, was Sajid Mir, a designated global terrorist and one of India's most wanted men. Mir allegedly acted as a principal handler during the 26/11 attacks and is accused of directing the siege of Mumbai's Chabad House, where six hostages were killed.

The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Mir's capture. In 2022, India submitted an audio recording to the United Nations where Mir was allegedly heard coordinating with the attackers during the siege.

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Sources said that Rana has links not only to Lashkar-e-Taiba but also to Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), another terror organisation. He reportedly visited their camps, sometimes accompanied by ISI officers and Pakistani military personnel.

The ISI Link 

According to NIA sources, clad in Pakistani army uniform, Rana also met Major Iqbal - a suspected ISI official. 

Major Iqbal - identified in a 2010 US indictment as a serving ISI officer - has been accused of being the person who financed, directed, and micromanaged the reconnaissance missions conducted by David Headley.

Headley, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to avoid the death penalty, has described Major Iqbal as his primary ISI handler, part of a trio of agency officials who "recruited, trained, and directed" him. In a testimony in 2011, Headley revealed over 20 email exchanges with an individual he knew as "Chaudhery Khan" - an alias for Major Iqbal.

The NIA is also zeroing in on an elusive figure who allegedly met Rana in Dubai before the 2008 Mumbai carnage. According to NIA sources, this individual knew about the attack.

Who Is Leading The Probe 

Rana was interrogated inside a CCTV-equipped chamber on the ground floor of the NIA's CGO Complex building in Delhi. The cell - 14 feet by 14 feet - is under 24-hour surveillance. Access is strictly limited to 12 cleared officials. Meals, medicine, and basic necessities are provided inside the cell, where movement is tightly regulated. A bed and toilet are provided within the cell itself.

Sources confirmed that the interrogation process is being recorded and logged in a daily case diary.

Leading the case is a team of 12 officers under the command of two senior NIA officials: DIG Jaya Roy and IG Ashish Batra.

DIG Roy, a 2011 batch IPS officer from the Jharkhand cadre, has prior experience investigating cybercrime. She has been with the NIA since 2019 and was instrumental in securing Rana's extradition from the US. Assisting her is Ashish Batra, a 1997 batch IPS officer also from Jharkhand, currently serving as Inspector General with the NIA. 

Both accompanied Rana from the US to India aboard the extradition flight, which landed Thursday evening in Delhi.