NIA court extends 26/11 plotter Tahawwur Rana's custody by 12 days

Tahawwur Rana

A special NIA court on Monday extended 26/11 Mumbai attacks plotter Tahawwur Rana's custody by 12 days. Rana was produced before special NIA judge Chander Jit Singh on expiry of his 18-day NIA custody amid tight security and with his face covered.

Rana, a close associate of 26/11 main conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen, was brought to India after the US Supreme Court on April 4 dismissed his review plea against his extradition to India.

On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India's financial capital using the sea route in the Arabian Sea.

Earlier, the Mumbai Police's Crime Branch team questioned Tahawwur Hussain Rana for over eight hours in New Delhi. According to an official, Rana provided evasive responses and did not cooperate during the interrogation. However, no further details were disclosed about his answers. A four-member team from the Crime Branch questioned Rana.

Arguments for the custody were given by senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and special public prosecutor Narender Mann, who represented the NIA in an in-chamber proceeding. Advocate Piyush Sachdeva from the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) is representing Rana in the case.

In its order, the judge directed the NIA to conduct a medical examination of Rana every 24 hours, and allow him to meet his lawyer every alternate day. The judge allowed Rana to use only a "soft-tip pen" and meet his lawyer in the presence of the NIA officials, who would be out of an audible distance.