'Quran, paper and...': In NIA custody, Tahawwur Rana demands three things

Tahawwur Rana

After Mumbai terror attacks co-conspirator Tahawwur Rana was extradited to India and sent to 18-day National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody on Friday, he remains on suicide watch, according to a media report.

Rana is being kept in a highly secure cell within the NIA headquarters and is under 24/7 human and CCTV surveillance. He is allowed to only use a soft-tip pen and meet his lawyer in the presence of NIA officials.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, he has been provided with a copy of the Quran at his request and is observed offering Namaz five times daily in his cell at the agency headquarters.

Quoting an offial, HT reported, besides the Quran, Rana asked for pen and paper, which have been provided, though he remains under close observation to ensure he doesn’t use the pen to harm himself. “Beyond that, he has not made any other demands.

As per court directives, Rana is allowed to meet a lawyer provided by the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) every alternate day, and undergoes a medical examination every 48 hours, the abovementioned media publication added.

Rana has to be confronted with a lot of evidence and his statements would lead to "additional discoveries", the NIA submitted. The agency further told the court it needed to investigate his links with other terrorists and those accused in the Mumbai attack case, Rana, who is a close associate of 26/11 main conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen, is accused of conspiring with the latter and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.

Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian, arrived in Delhi on Thursday months after US President Donald Trump said after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks accused will be extradited. He finally landed in Delhi after he exhausted all legal options to challenge his extradition from the US. Judge Chander Jit Singh, presiding over the special NIA bench, granted the NIA 18 days' custody of Rana.