Indian lawyer Tushar Mehta. |Photo source: HS Manjunath
The government has appointed a team of lawyers, led by Deputy Attorney General Tushar Mehta, to trial the extraditioned Pakistan-Canadian terrorist Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was tried in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack.
The Ministry of the Interior (MHA) said in the notice that the appointment had been exercised under the National Bureau of Investigation Act of 2008 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) (BNSS).
The central government hereby appointed a team of special prosecutors led by Deputy Attorney General Tushar Mehta, including other Deputy Attorney Sv Raju, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan and Advocate Narender Mann for trials and other trials and other matters related to Nia and Nia yia cases. The notice said that the Supreme Court of India had been in the process of three years or until the trials in the case were completed, whichever is earlier.
RC-04/2009/NIA/DLI is related to the case registered with the NIA in Delhi, involving Rana and David Coleman Headley in the trial related to the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack.
After years of continuous efforts, the NIA extradited Rana from the United States and arrested him on April 10.
Rana is accused of participating in the bigger conspiracy behind the 2008 Dastardly strike planned by Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba in 2008, with 166 killed and more than 238 injured.
He was sent to judicial custody on May 9 and was sent to Tihar Prison after a custody trial in Nia.
During custody, Rana was baked by NIA investigators for about eight to ten hours to unearth the bigger conspiracy behind the 2008 terrorist attack.
The Pakistan-Canadian terrorist, 64, has also been accused of calling his accomplice, David Coleman Headley, alias Daood Gilani, a U.S./citizen in the country’s prisons.
Rana was allegedly traveling in parts of northern and southern India a few days before the country’s financial capital massacre on November 26, 2008.
Rana is charged with a number of crimes, including conspiracy, murder, commissions of terrorist acts and crimes forged in the country.
The Counter-terrorism agency targeted Headley on November 11, 2009 under Article 121 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Article 18 of the Illegal Activities (Prevention) Act and Article 6(2) 6(2) SAARC Convention (Suppression of Terrorism) and registered by his childhood friend Rana and others.
During the NIA investigation, the roles of senior functions of terror groups LeT and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI) — Hafiz Muhammad Saeed alias Tayyaji, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Sajjid Majid alias Wasi, Illyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed alias Major Abdurrehman alias Pasha — had also appeared.
According to NIA Proce, the conspirators actively identified with officials from Pakistani spy agency ISI, namely, major Alias ​​Major Ali and Major Sameer Ali Alias ​​Major Samir.
publishing – May 16, 2025 at 02:04 AM IST
