New Delhi, April 11: The National Investigation Agency on April 10 argued in a Delhi court that it suspects terror plots akin to 26/11 Mumbai attacks were devised by key conspirator Tahawwur Rana to target multiple Indian cities.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) made the claim before special judge Chander Jit Singh, who remanded Rana to 18-day NIA custody.
In its order, the judge directed the NIA to conduct medical examination of Rana every 24 hours, and allow him to meet his lawyer every alternate day.
The judge allowed Rana to use only a soft-tip pen and meet his lawyer in the presence of the NIA officials within an audible distance.
During the arguments, the NIA said Rana’s custody was required to piece together the full scope of the conspiracy, and submitted he was required to be taken to various locations for retracing the events that took place 17 years ago.
“His (Rana) prolonged custody has been deemed necessary to facilitate an extensive interrogation aimed at uncovering deeper layers of the conspiracy. We suspect that the tactics used in the Mumbai attacks were intended for execution in other cities as well, prompting investigators to examine whether similar plots were developed elsewhere,” the NIA is believed to have informed the judge, a source said.
To piece together crucial evidence and retrace events from 17 years ago, officials might transport Rana to key locations, allowing them to reconstruct the crime scene and gain deeper insight into the larger terror network at play, the source added.
The NIA DIGs, one IG and five DCPs of Delhi Police were present in the court premises during his production. Rana will remain in NIA custody for 18 days, during which time the agency plans to “question him in detail in order to unravel the complete conspiracy behind the deadly 2008 attacks” which saw 166 persons being killed and over 238 sustaining wounds. (PTI)
