Amid hints of Dawood imprint, Rana grilled on 'plotter he met in Dubai'

New Delhi, April 12 (IANS) Extradited 26/11 terrorist Tahawwur Rana’s questioning by the NIA has revolved around extracting information from him about a key plotter from Dubai and a person who hosted and helped co-conspirator David Coleman Headley in Mumbai ahead of the 2008 attack, sources said on Saturday.

Investigators are also trying to question the 64-year-old Pakistani-Canadian terrorist to rule the possibility of involvement of fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim or his D-Company’s Dubai network in the 26/11 conspiracy, said sources.

The mystery man from Dubai, apparently, was aware of the attack in advance, said investigators who have constantly kept a watch on Rana in his NIA cell to prevent him from attempting suicide.

Rana’s fresh voice sample has also been sent for forensic test and matched with recorded phone conversations he held with co-conspirators soon after the attack, said sources.

Rana, a former Pakistan Army Medical Corps worker who is facing NIA grilling for giving logistical support to his childhood friend Headley, has been citing before investigators his inability to recall the chain of events but has confirmed his presence in Mumbai at least one week before the attack.

The Dubai ‘plotter’ of 26/11 had met Rana at the behest of Headley and the entire conspiracy had been planned over three years starting 2005, suspect NIA investigators.

Headley alias Daood Gilani was earlier questioned by an NIA team in the US in 2010. He was convicted in the US for his role in the attack.

Sources said as part of its groundwork, the NIA had kept ready Headley’s Mumbai host for confronting the two and confirming their activities that involved recce of the area near Taj Mahal Palace hotel and Chabad House or Nariman House in Colaba - a significant location for the Jewish community.

The Mumbai-based local aide of Headley had helped him open an office, and the latter spent at least 11 months scouting targets.

While identifying the 26/11 targets, Headley had allegedly used Satellite geotagging, also known as remote sensing geotagging, that involves using satellite imagery and other remote sensing data to assign geographical coordinates to media, like photos or videos.

This data, which typically included latitude and longitude, allowed the 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists to locate their targets based on their geographical location.

The terrorists who sailed into a fishermen’s colony in Mumbai on a boat used these vital inputs to fan out in the city and conduct shooting and bombing at 12 different locations. They were carrying layout plans and blueprints of their four main targets – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Oberoi Trident and Nariman House.

The Mumbai attack started on November 26 and lasted till November 29, leaving 166, including six US nationals, dead.

Rana’s 18-day questioning by the NIA is also likely to shed light on the possible role of Pakistani nationals Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman in 26/11. He may also be questioned on the role of key plotter Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Sajid Majeed Mir.

Apart from briefing NIA investigators about his family background rooted in Pakistan, Rana has also shed light on how he studied medicine before joining the Army and how he and his wife, also a doctor, became Canadian citizens in 2001. A few years later, Rana launched an immigration and travel agency in Chicago.

--IANS

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