NIA Likely to Probe Rana’s Ahmedabad Visit

 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is expected to probe Tahawwur Hussain Rana’s visit to Ahmedabad just days before the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, as part of its broader investigation into his alleged role in the conspiracy, according to reports.

Rana, a 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian national, stayed at Hotel Lemon Tree in Mithakhali with his wife, Samraz Akhtar, on November 18 and 19, 2008—just a week before the attacks that claimed 166 lives.

According to media reports, the visit came under scrutiny in January 2010 when the city police’s special branch investigated the matter. GS Malik, who now serves as Police Commissioner, was then the Inspector General of the special branch. 

Malik confirmed that the hotel failed to register Rana’s stay or verify his credentials. “Rana stayed in this hotel and there was a negligence on hotel’s part that they did not record his stay and checked his credentials. So, we registered an FIR against the hotel owner in 2010–11. We received an intel that he stayed somewhere in Ahmedabad, we checked and we pinpointed his location,” Malik told Benefit News.

Rana arrived in Delhi on Thursday on a special flight following his extradition from the United States and was immediately taken into custody by the NIA. He was presented before a special court at Patiala House, which granted the agency 18 days of custodial interrogation, lasting until April 29.

The NIA, which had requested a 20-day remand, is interrogating Rana on three key areas: his role in the 26/11 Mumbai plot, his connections with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and his alleged ties to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). 

A 12-member NIA team led by Deputy Inspector General Jaya Roy, who played a pivotal role in Rana’s extradition, is leading the investigation. Email records are cited as key evidence in the case.

Rana is being held at the NIA headquarters in Delhi in a fortified 14×14-foot cell under 24-hour CCTV surveillance. Armed CRPF and Delhi Police personnel guard the CGO complex, and his cell is monitored round-the-clock to prevent any self-harm. Provisions and food are arranged inside, and a medical examination is conducted every 24 hours. Interrogations began after 11 am on Friday in an adjacent third-floor room. He is allowed supervised legal consultations on alternate days, with only a soft-tip pen permitted during meetings.

Once the custodial interrogation concludes, Rana will be moved to Tihar Jail, where security has already been intensified. Records from the 26/11 case have been submitted to District Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav. The prosecution is being led by senior criminal lawyer Dayan Krishnan and Special Public Prosecutor Narendra Mann.

Rana is facing charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against India, murder, and several violations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He is a known associate of David Coleman Headley, also known as Daood Gilani, another key conspirator in the attacks. 

Headley testified that Rana provided logistical and financial support for the operation. The two had attended military school together in Pakistan and later collaborated in running an immigration consultancy, which Indian authorities allege was used as a cover for reconnaissance operations.

Rana’s visit to Ahmedabad is part of a broader inquiry into his travel across multiple Indian cities shortly before the attacks. Between November 13-21, 2008, Rana and his wife visited Hapur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai. The NIA is investigating whether these visits were part of a wider reconnaissance effort to potentially target other Indian cities.

Another area of focus for the agency is the suspicious decision not to renew the lease on a Mumbai office operated under Rana’s immigration firm. The NIA had previously determined that this office served as a front for Headley, who used it to conduct surveillance of elite locations in Mumbai. Headley, leveraging his US passport and Western appearance, filmed various targets and transmitted the footage to handlers in Pakistan.

The NIA is also pursuing leads on a previously unidentified man who reportedly met Rana in Dubai before the Mumbai siege. This individual, whose identity has been kept confidential even within international intelligence networks, is believed to have had foreknowledge of the attacks. 

According to NIA sources, Headley had warned Rana in 2008 not to travel to India and arranged for him to meet the co-conspirator in Dubai, confirming that a major attack was imminent. Investigators are examining whether this person was affiliated with the ISI, a senior figure within the Pakistani military, or a designated terror group operating from Pakistan.

Several individuals have been named in earlier stages of the investigation as part of the broader network behind the attacks. These include Hafiz Saeed, founder of LeT; Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, LeT’s operational commander; Sajjid Majid; Illyas Kashmiri; and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, also known as Major Abdurrehman or Pasha. The NIA has alleged collaboration with ISI officers identified as Major Iqbal alias Major Ali and Major Sameer Ali alias Major Samir.

 

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