Caught, at Last

Extradition of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistan-Canadian national, to Delhi recently is making headlines. He was brought (April 10) to India by National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials on a special aircraft from the US. Earlier, in an order passed, the NIA judge said that there was enough material produced by the probe agency that pertained to the safety and security of the nation.

Further, the material produced on record reflects that the conspiracy in question transcends the geographical borders of India, involving multiple cities. As I write this piece, Rana has been remanded to police custody for sustained interrogation to unearth the facts behind the deep-rooted conspiracy. According to the presiding judge, Rana needs to be confronted with witnesses as well as forensic and documentary evidence seized during the investigation.

Meanwhile, according to security experts, to piece together crucial evidence and retrace the events from 17 years ago (the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26, 2008), officials might take Rana to key locations, allowing them to reconstruct the crime scene for deeper insight into the larger terror network. Rana, the 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman and a close associate of 26/11 attacks’ main conspirator David Coleman Headley, a US citizen, was brought to India after the US Supreme Court on April 4 dismissed his review plea against his extradition.

As noted author and counter-terrorism expert Shri Vappala Balachandran, David Coleman Headley a.k.a. Daood and Tahawwur Rana were friends while students at Hasan Abdal Cadet College, a military school in Pakistan. Later, Tahawwur Rana would provide “cover” for Headley’s undercover terrorist reconnaissance activities. The court proceedings against Headley in Chicago in 2013 indicated that he grew up in an environment of Pakistani nationalism and Islamic conservatism.

Significantly, Sebastian Rotella of ProPublica and Prof. Stephen Tankel of American University were primarily responsible for exposing to the world the secret links between 26/11 terrorist David Coleman Headley, his friend Tahawwur Rana, and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which official US sources had not publicly disclosed earlier. Headley admitted in court that he had attended Lashkar training camps in Pakistan at least five times between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, he travelled to India to conduct surveillance at the behest of LeT.

Interestingly, the proceedings against Tahawwur Rana in 2013 in the US District Court of Chicago provided proof of the close friendship between him and Headley, especially how Rana’s “cover” of a travel agency allowed the latter to make frequent trips to India and Pakistan. Rana, an “immigration consultant,” helped Headley conduct undercover terrorist reconnaissance by allowing him to work as an overseas representative of his immigration consulting firm. He also enabled Headley to open an office in Mumbai, use business cards, and obtain visas.

Rana was awarded 14 years in prison for two counts of charges: providing material support to LeT’s activities and being involved in a plot to attack a Danish newspaper that had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Headley was examined online as a witness by a Mumbai court in February 2016 in the case of Abu Jundal. Rana’s extradition to India also affords the Indian security authorities the opportunity to interrogate him about his role in helping Headley conduct reconnaissance prior to the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008.

More importantly, this is significant because the Chicago jury’s findings do not appear to have been based on the facts that the Indian investigating agencies had provided to their counterparts in the USA. That is why Rana’s extradition is important, as Shri Vappala Balachandran has aptly explained.

In the meantime, sources indicate that Tahawwur Rana is being interrogated professionally by the NIA to unravel a larger conspiracy behind the dreaded strikes. He is being questioned on the basis of various leads gathered during the course of the investigation, including the examination of a large number of phone calls made to Headley. The investigators also hope to find some important leads on his travels in parts of India days before the assault of November 26, 2008.

During the NIA investigation, the roles of senior functionaries of terror groups LeT and Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI) — Hafiz Muhammad Saeed alias Tayyaji, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Sajjid Majid alias Wasi, Illyas Kashmiri, and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed alias Major Abdur Rehman alias Pasha — had also emerged. These aspects now call for a deeper probe by the NIA to garner more details to a) expose Pakistan for its condemnable role in sponsoring the terror attacks in Mumbai, and b) identify his contacts in India who may have provided material and logistic support.

Rana’s extradition speaks volumes of the sustained efforts by the NIA and other relevant agencies in piecing the evidence together and prevailing upon the US side, resulting in this prize catch. Similarly, Indian diplomats also worked tirelessly, using their good offices, leading to his extradition. It would also be pertinent to mention that the Pakistan Foreign Ministry was quick to distance itself from Rana, not accepting the fact that he is of Pakistani origin, and giving vague and unconvincing explanations. Nevertheless, Rana and his accomplice have Pakistani roots and are deeply linked with LeT and other terrorist groups, nurturing an anti-India stance.

Rana’s extradition is a lesson for an incorrigible Pakistan to see that the failed state, afflicted with terror as it is, does not become a breeding ground for terrorists like Headley or Rana and that potential terrorists being groomed by Pakistan do not get attracted to terror designs. This, however, is easier said than done. It is time for Pakistan to introspect and develop a realistic stance towards India. Rana’s interrogation is expected to reveal much more, which may possibly embarrass Pakistan in good measure. It is hoped that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Western countries are listening to prevent recurrences of this nature emanating from Pakistan. Pakistan needs to be exposed internationally after damning disclosures on terror are made to Indian investigators.

Rana’s extradition also gives a powerful message that Indian investigation agencies are capable of bringing back the perpetrators of terror crimes from any nook and corner of the world. This also proves a political resolve and sheer will to tackle the terror menace.

The writer is a retired IPS officer, Adviser NatStrat, and a former National Security Advisor in Mauritius. Views expressed are personal