Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has been sent to judicial custody until June 6. His NIA police custody was set to end on Saturday. A day before, he was presented at the Patiala House Court in Delhi, where the decision for his judicial custody was pronounced. Prior to this, his NIA custody had been extended by 12 days.
He was brought before Special NIA Judge Chandrjeet Singh under tight security. Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan and Special Public Prosecutor Narendra Mann represented the National Investigation Agency in the in-chamber proceedings. Advocate Piyush Sachdeva from the Delhi Legal Services Authority represented Tahawwur Rana. The judge instructed the NIA to conduct his medical check-up every 24 hours.
Additionally, he was given permission to meet with his lawyer every other day, use a soft-tip pen, and speak with his lawyer in the presence of NIA officials. During the court proceedings, the NIA requested an extension of his custody to piece together the conspiracy. The court was told that he needed to be taken to various locations for further investigation of the terror incident.
After the US Supreme Court rejected his petition against extradition to India, Tahawwur Rana, a close aide of the 26/11 mastermind David Coleman Headley, also known as Dawood Gilani, was brought in on April 4. His involvement was revealed during the interrogation of his childhood friend, David Headley. The devastating Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, 2008, executed by 10 Pakistani terrorists, involved coordinated attacks across several locations.
The terrorists arrived via the Arabian Sea, launching attacks at multiple spots, including a railway station, two luxury hotels, and a Jewish center. The siege lasted around 60 hours, claiming 166 lives. Tahawwur Rana is accused of plotting the attacks in collaboration with Headley, also known as Dawood Gilani, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI), and Pakistani operatives.
