Tushar Mehta to lead govt lawyers’ team for trial of 26/11 accused Rana
The US govt extradited Rana to India on April 10, following which NIA arrested him and interrogated him for 30 days before he was sent to Tihar prison last week
The Union government on Thursday appointed a team of lawyers, headed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, to conduct trial against Tahawwur Hussain Rana, Pakistan-born Canadian citizen extradited from the US last month, in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case.
“...the central government hereby appoints a team of special public prosecutors headed by Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India, with SV Raju, additional Solicitor General, along with Dayan Krishnan, senior advocate, and Narender Mann, advocate, for conducting trial and other matters related to NIA case (26/11 case) on behalf of the National Investigation Agency before the NIA special courts at Delhi, high court of Delhi and Supreme Court for a period of 3 years from the date of publication of this notification or till the completion of trial of the said case, whichever is earlier,” the ministry of home affairs said in a notification.
Krishnan and Mann were already appointed as special prosecutors in the case last month.
The US government extradited 64-year-old Rana to India on April 10 following which NIA arrested him and interrogated him for 30 days before he was sent to Tihar prison last week.
Also Read | NIA questions Tahawwur Rana on ISI’s set-up in Karachi, Nepal
NIA has claimed in its court documents that Rana was part of 26/11 Mumbai attacks conspiracy since 2006 and had even visited India between November 13 and 21, 2008, just days before the November 26, 2008 terror attacks that claimed 166 lives and left hundreds of others injured in the heart of the financial capital of the country.
Just before the attacks, Rana was in Dubai and had met his handler and former Pakistani army officer Abdur Rehman Pasha and later went to China. From China, he travelled back to the US on November 26, 2008, NIA has claimed.
Also Read | Tahawwur Rana left Pakistan Army, but continued wearing uniform at ISI, Lashkar meetings
An official requesting anonymity said Rana, during his custody in NIA, was asked about plots of proscribed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the ISI besides his visits to Indian cities just before the Mumbai attacks. He was also asked about his communications with his childhood friend and key accused, David Coleman Headley, the official added.
Rana is accused of facilitating a cover for Headley, a US citizen born as Daood Gilani, to travel to Mumbai for the reconnaissance of potential attack sites for LeT.
