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Tahawwur Rana left Pakistan Army, but continued wearing uniform at ISI, Lashkar meetings: Report
Tahawwur Rana moved to Canada in 1997 with wife Samraz, a physician. He started an immigration consultancy and later expanded into the halal meat business.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who is being interrogated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, told investigators that even after leaving the Pakistani Army’s medical corps, he continued wearing his uniform while meeting Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives and people linked to Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, NDTV reported.
Citing NIA sources, the report added that Rana hails from Chichawatni, a village in Pakistan’s Punjab province and his father was a school principal.
Rana is one of three brothers. One of his brothers is a psychiatrist in the Pakistani army, while the other works as a journalist. He studied at Cadet College Hasanabdal, where he met David Coleman Headley (Dawood Sayed Gilani), the Pakistani-American linked to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and currently in a US prison.
Rana moved to Canada in 1997 with his wife, Samraz Rana Akhtar, a practising physician. He started an immigration consultancy and later ventured into the halal meat business. The consultancy, however, became a front for terror activities, with Headley posing as a consultant.
Rana, who held a medical degree, regularly visited terror camps in his military uniform after leaving service, maintaining connections with groups tied to terrorism, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), sources told NDTV.
Investigations have also revealed that Rana maintained regular contact with Sajid Mir, a designated global terrorist and one of India's most wanted fugitives.
Mir is said to have been a key handler during the 26/11 attacks and is accused of orchestrating the siege at Mumbai’s Chabad House, which led to the deaths of six hostages.
The United States has announced a $5 million reward for information that could lead to Mir's capture. In 2022, India provided the United Nations with an audio recording, allegedly capturing Mir coordinating with the attackers during the siege.
Rana met ISI officer Major Iqbal
Clad in Pakistani army uniform, Rana also met Major Iqbal, a suspected ISI official, according to NIA sources quoted in the report.
Major Iqbal, identified in a 2010 US indictment as a serving ISI officer, is accused of financing, overseeing, and directing the reconnaissance missions carried out by David Headley.
Major Iqbal, who was named in a 2010 US indictment as a serving ISI officer, is accused of financing, overseeing, and directing the reconnaissance missions carried out by David Headley.
In his 2011 testimony, David Headley called Major Iqbal his primary handler within the ISI, part of a trio of officials who “recruited, trained, and directed” him.
Headley, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to avoid the death penalty, also revealed over 20 email exchanges with the person he knew as “Chaudhery Khan,” an alias for Major Iqbal, the report added.
