NIA suspects wider plot as Rana interrogated over 26/11 attacks

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday launched an extensive interrogation of Mumbai terror attack co-conspirator Tahawwur Hussain Rana, as the agency told a Delhi court that it suspects Rana had plans to attack other Indian cities as well with similar large-scale strikes.

According to a PTI report, the NIA is believed to have informed special NIA judge Chander Jit Singh that Rana’s prolonged custody has been deemed necessary for an extensive interrogation aimed at uncovering deeper layers of the conspiracy.

Rana, the 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, was brought to NIA headquarters early on Thursday morning shortly after a Delhi court granted the agency his 18-day custody.

The NIA is focusing on his suspected ties to the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which masterminded the strike. Sources say Rana will also be questioned about possible links to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and his specific role in the attacks.

PTI reported that Rana may be taken to key locations as part of the investigation, allowing them to reconstruct the crime scene and gain deeper insight into the larger terror network at play. The investigators also hope to find some important leads on his travels in parts of northern and southern India, days before the carnage that began on November 26, 2008. Rana visited Hapur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai with his wife Samraz Rana Akhtar between November 13 and November 21, 2008. NIA officials said that there could have been a larger conspiracy aimed at targeting other places across the country behind his visits to these places, and the exact details would be ascertained only after his interrogation. 

Rana is charged with numerous offenses, including conspiracy, murder, commission of a terrorist act, and forgery in the country, PTI reported.