NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday asked Tihar Jail authorities to respond to a request by Tahawwur Hussain Rana, an accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case, who is seeking permission to speak to his family while in custody.
Special Judge Chander Jit Singh issued a notice asking jail officials to file a formal reply along with a status report by the next hearing scheduled for June 4. Rana, a 64-year-old Canadian businessman of Pakistani origin, is currently in judicial custody in Delhi.
He was recently extradited from the United States after the U S Supreme Court on April 4 rejected his final appeal against the extradition order.
Rana is believed to be a close associate of David Coleman Headley, also known as Daood Gilani, a U.S. national and the main conspirator behind the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. At the beginning of the proceedings, Judge Singh asked Rana whether he had legal representation. When Rana replied that he did not, the judge assured him that legal aid would be arranged through the Delhi Legal Services Authority.
Subsequently, advocate Piyush Sachdeva was appointed to represent him. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was represented in court by senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and Special Public Prosecutor Narender Mann. Rana stands accused of working with Headley and members of banned terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI), as well as other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to plan and support the coordinated terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008.
On November 26 that year, ten Pakistani terrorists entered Mumbai using the sea route from the Arabian Sea.
Over three days, they launched a deadly assault across several key locations in the city, including Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, the Taj and Oberoi hotels, and the Jewish Chabad House.
The attack left 166 people dead and hundreds injured. It lasted nearly 60 hours.