NIA grills Tahawwur Rana for second consecutive day to probe 26/11 attacks

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• The NIA on Friday took Mumbai attacks mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana into 18-day custody, during which he will be questioned in detail to unravel the complete conspiracy behind the deadly 26/11 terror strike. (PTI Photo/Vijay Varma)

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• NEW DELHI — The National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioned Mumbai attacks conspirator Tahawwur Hussain Rana for the second consecutive day to probe larger conspiracy behind the dastardly terror strikes of 2008, sources said Saturday.
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• They said Rana is being probed by a team of NIA officials to ascertain his exact role behind the attacks that shook the nation over 16 years ago.
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• Rana is said to be grilled on the basis of various leads gathered by the probe agency during the course of its investigation including a large number of phone calls between him and his co-conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen currently in prisons in that country.

Related story: NIA begins Tahawwur Rana's questioning from today to unravel complete conspiracy behind 26/11

• He would also be quizzed about individuals he met, especially an alleged key contact in Dubai who is said to be aware about the plans on carrying out Mumbai terror strikes, the sources said.
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• Rana was brought to the NIA headquarters early Friday morning after a Delhi court granted 18-day custody to the probe agency, following his extradition from the US.
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• He is kept in a highly-secured cell, inside the anti-terror agency's head office at CGO complex here, being guarded by security personnel round the clock, the sources said.
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• The 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman would also be questioned on his suspected links with the officials of Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and his association with terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which had orchestrated the attacks.
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• The investigators also hope to find some important leads on his travels in parts of northern and southern India, days before the carnage in the country's financial capital on November 26, 2008, they said.
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• "Rana will remain in NIA custody for 18 days, during which time the agency will question him in detail in order to unravel the complete conspiracy behind the deadly 2008 attacks, in which a total of 166 persons were killed and over 238 injured," said a statement issued by the probe agency soon after the court's verdict on Friday early morning.
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• The anti-terror agency had produced Rana before the NIA Special Court at Patiala House after formally placing him under arrest following his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here on Thursday evening, upon his extradition from the US.
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• The NIA claimed in the court that it suspects terror plots akin to 26/11 Mumbai attacks were devised by Rana to target multiple Indian cities.
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• In its order, the court also directed the NIA to conduct a medical examination of Rana every 24 hours, and allow him to meet his lawyer every alternate day.
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• Rana has been charged with numerous offenses, including conspiracy, murder, commission of a terrorist act, and forgery in the country.
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• After registering a case in 2009, NIA's investigation had found the role of senior functionaries of another Pakistan-based terror group Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI) in carrying out the attacks.