NEW DELHI: A day after Tahawwur Rana was extradited to India, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused was taken out from his cell at the NIA headquarters to the interrogation room in the same building in the national capital on Friday. He was confronted with initial questions relating to his handlers in Pakistan, his funding and business partners, and sleeper cells in India with whom he was connected to, sources said.
Rana was asked to provide details about the visit of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Sajid Mir to India under the pretext of watching a cricket match and whether anyone accompanied Rana to the locations where he allegedly provided video footage to Mir.
Rana’s interrogation will take place on three counts, including establishing identity and his intent, attack and ISI nexus, and his links with LeT.
NIA investigators also wanted to find details of who all helped David Coleman Headley in India and who received money for it. Headley is one of the prime accused in the case.
As part of the first round of questioning relating to establishing identity and intent, NIA sleuths tried to get his personal details, including his upbringing, education, family and career and his transition from a trained doctor to a conspirator in international terrorism, sources said.
NIA interrogators also questioned him if his family knew about his alleged links to Headley and about how they planned and executed the terror plot, apart from his physical location on November 26, 2008, when the attacks began.
During subsequent rounds of questioning, Rana is going to be asked when he met LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and what was the nature of their relationship. He will also be asked if he could identify other members of the LeT by name, face, or their role, the sources added.
The final round of questioning will revolve around involvement of ISI in carrying out the attacks, the sources said.