Tahawwur Rana moves court seeking contact with family

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who is accused of being involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, has moved a court seeking permission to talk to his family members.

On April 19, Rana moved a plea through his counsel to special court judge Hardeep Kaur, requesting permission to speak to his family. The judge on Monday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file a reply by April 23.

Rana was remanded to 18 days in custody by the court on April 10.

The NIA alleged that the accused, David Coleman Headley, had informed Rana of all the details of the operation before he visited India.

In anticipation of potential challenges, Headley had also sent an email to the Pakistani-Canadian businessman with information about his belongings and assets, the NIA told the court.

The NIA claimed that Headley had also told Rana about the involvement of Pakistani nationals and fellow accused Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman in the criminal conspiracy.

Tahawwur Rana in custody

64-year-old Rana was brought to the NIA headquarters after a Delhi court granted 18-day custody to the probe agency, following his extradition from the US.

The US Supreme Court had dismissed his review plea on April 4, which had allowed his extradition to India.

During his time in jail, Rana asked for a Quran, a pen and paper. Security officials stated that he was under close guard to ensure that he did not harm himself using the pen.

The NIA has also been interrogating Rana for 8-10 hours per day. Officials stated that he has been cooperative with the authorities, as reported by PTI.

On November 26, 2008, a group of terrorists snuck into India’s financial capital using the sea route in the Arabian Sea. In a nearly 60-hour assault on the city, they killed as many as 166 people.