Tahawwur Hussain Rana, one of the principal accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, has reportedly confessed to being in Mumbai at the time of the carnage and claimed he was a “trusted agent” of the Pakistani army.
The Mumbai Crime Branch had been interrogating him. Rana revealed that Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) thoroughly prepared David Coleman Headley and he to execute such attacks. LeT functioned as a network for acquiring intelligence, he said.
According to US prosecutors, Rana and Headley became close friends during their time at Hasan Abdal Cadet College. Though they went their separate ways in their teens after Headley’s American mother withdrew him from the school and returned to the US, the two remained in contact.
Headley was selected and trained by LeT chief Hafiz Saeed to carry out reconnaissance missions in Mumbai and other Indian cities, identifying targets that would cause maximum civilian casualties and draw global attention. Rana, a Canadian passport holder and businessman running a travel and immigration consultancy as well as a butchery in Chicago, was in a position to assist him by offering accommodation, logistical support, and access to false travel documents for tickets and visas.
It has emerged that Rana allegedly told Headley after the attacks that the Indians “deserved it.”
A detailed study of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, a major railway hub in Mumbai known for constant flow of commuters, was part of his preparation.
The 64-year-old also disclosed that the execution of the 26/11 operation was orchestrated with the assistance of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Additionally, Rana said the idea to open an immigration centre for his firm in Mumbai was his own, and that financial transactions related to it were recorded as business expenses.
He revealed that he visited India in November 2008 and stayed at a hotel in Mumbai’s Powai on the 20th and 21st, days before the terror attacks. Before the strike, he escaped to Beijing via Dubai.
In another disclosure, Rana claimed he had previously been deployed by the Pakistani army to Saudi Arabia during the Khaleej War.
Among other information, Rana said that he completed an MBBS course in 1986 from the Army Medical College in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi. He was commissioned as a captain doctor in the Pakistani Army in Quetta.
Getting posted in sensitive regions such as Sindh, Balochistan, Bahawalpur, and Siachen-Balotra was part of his training.
He reportedly developed pulmonary edema, which led to his absence from duty, during his days at Siachen. ‘Pulmonary edema’ is a condition that causes a fluid buildup in the lungs. Following the condition, he was declared a deserter, another report revealed.
The Mumbai Police are reportedly preparing to formally arrest Rana and take him into their custody following these revelations.
Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, was extradited to India earlier this year after the US Supreme Court dismissed his review petition on April 4. He was brought to India in May and was taken into judicial custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He is currently being held in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
He is under investigation for multiple serious charges, including conspiracy, murder, commission of a terrorist act, and forgery. A Delhi court last month extended his judicial custody until July 9.
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