Delhi high court issues notice to NIA over Tahawwur Rana's plea to speak with family

Tahawurr Rana's plea had been denied by the court earlier after the NIA opposed the request, citing the risk of sensitive information being leaked.

The Patiala House Court in Delhi on Wednesday issued a notice to the NIA on a plea filed by Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case, seeking permission to talk to his family under jail regulations.

Tahawwur Rana has issued a plea in the Delhi HC to talk to his family, although a previous request had been denied by the NIA(PTI)

Special NIA (National Investigation Agency) judge Chanderjit Singh directed the investigating body to respond to Rana's application and also sought a report from the Tihar Jail authorities. Rana will remain in judicial custody till June 6, with his next hearing on the matter scheduled for June 4, reported ANI. 

Rana had filed a plea to speak with his family over the phone while in NIA custody earlier. However, the request was denied after the NIA opposed it, claiming that any such contact would risk sensitive information being leaked during an ongoing investigation.

Rana's lawyer, Piyush Sachdeva, had argued that as a foreign national, he had a fundamental right to contact his family, who were concerned about his well-being in jail.

NIA collects voice, handwriting samples

The NIA, in their investigation against Tahawwur Rana in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, collected voice and handwriting samples from the accused.

Rana complied with the court's directives and provided handwriting samples by writing various alphabets and numerical characters. The special NIA court had also granted approval to the investigating body to collect the 64-year-old's voice samples.

Following Tahawwur Rana's extradition from the United States, the terror attack accused was placed under NIA custody in New Delhi, where investigators are conducting a probe into his role during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

The terror strikes, which were orchestrated by the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed over 170 lives and left hundreds injured.