Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has made explosive admissions that further expose Pakistan’s deep involvement in the deadly assault on India’s financial capital. According to a report by India Today, Rana told investigators that he was in Mumbai at the time of the attacks and confirmed his long-standing association with the Pakistani elements.
Sources told India Today that Rana, currently in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, revealed that he and his close associate David Coleman Headley had undergone multiple training sessions with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Rana reportedly told the Mumbai Crime Branch that LeT primarily operated as a spy network and worked in coordination with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Rana admitted that the idea of opening his firm’s immigration centre in Mumbai was his own and that all financial transactions linked to it were presented as business expenses. Crucially, the report says that Rana acknowledged his presence in Mumbai during the 26/11 attacks was not accidental, but a planned part of the terror operation.
Rana also told investigators that he had conducted surveillance of potential targets, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), one of the key sites attacked by the Pakistani terrorists. According to India Today, Rana confirmed that the 26/11 attacks were carried out in collaboration with Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI.
The report says that sources further revealed that Rana confessed he had earlier been sent to Saudi Arabia by the Pakistani Army during the Khaleej War, underlining his long association with Pakistan’s military establishment.
Following these revelations, Mumbai Police are now preparing to formally arrest Rana and take him into custody, the report said.
Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian national, was extradited to India earlier this year after the United States Supreme Court dismissed his petition on April 4, clearing the way for his transfer. After his arrival in May, he was placed in NIA’s judicial custody and has since been under investigation for multiple serious charges, including criminal conspiracy, murder, committing terrorist acts, and forgery. Last month, a Delhi court extended his judicial custody until July 9.
The 26/11 Mumbai attacks, carried out by 10 heavily armed Pakistani terrorists, left 166 people dead and hundreds injured over a 60-hour siege that targeted key landmarks, including the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and the Nariman House Jewish centre.
India has consistently held Pakistan-based terror outfits and their state sponsors responsible for the Mumbai carnage. Rana’s latest confessions add further weight to India’s long-standing position that the attack was meticulously planned with active support from Pakistani state elements.