A Delhi court has received the trial records related to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, ahead of the arrival of Tahawwur Rana from the United States.
The records were submitted to the court of District Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav, following his January 28 directive to the staff of a Mumbai court to forward the documents. The order was issued in response to an application filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which sought the retrieval of the case files from Mumbai. The trial court records were previously sent to Mumbai due to the presence of multiple cases related to the 26/11 attacks in both cities.
Rana, a key accused in the 2008 terror attacks, is being brought to India on a special flight today after his final attempt to avoid extradition failed. The US Supreme Court rejected his appeal, clearing the way for his transfer to Indian custody.
On 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana being brought to India from the US, former DGP of J&K, SP Vaid says, “Tahawwur Rana being extradited to India is a huge achievement of the Indian Government and agencies… This attack carried out at the behest of Pakistan’s ISI claimed the lives of 166 people. This is why it is very important to hold Tahawwur Rana accountable.
Many links need to be joined. The investigation will conclude after interrogating him and ascertaining the roles of Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. He opened an agency in Mumbai to help David Coleman Headley. Many secrets will be exposed on how Pakistan’s ISI carried out the whole thing and how he helped the Pakistan Army. Two majors of the Pak Army were handling the whole thing. Was this all happening without ISI having information about it? Was the ISI doing all this without the Army Chief having any information about it?”
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Headley, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, had already pleaded guilty to his role in the attacks that plunged Mumbai into chaos for nearly three days. He is currently serving a 35-year sentence in an American prison for terrorism-related charges linked to both the Mumbai attacks and a planned assault on a Danish newspaper.
Who is David Coleman Headley?
David Coleman Headley was born as Daood Sayed Gilani in Washington DC to Sayed Salim Gilani, a prominent Pakistani diplomat and broadcaster, and his American wife, Alice Serrill Headley.
Headley spent his early years at a boarding school in Pakistan before moving to the US, where he worked as a barman at his family’s pub in Philadelphia. He established links with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
In 1998, he was sentenced to two years in prison for smuggling heroin into the US from Pakistan. Following his release, Headley began working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), carrying out undercover surveillance operations in Pakistan.
After attending at least five LeT training camps in Pakistan between 2002 and 2005, Headly travelled to India on the instructions of Lashkar commanders to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks in 2008, according to the US Department of Justice.
He was arrested in 2009 by US authorities before he could carry out further attacks in Denmark. He later pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and cooperated with investigators, offering detailed insights into LeT operations and Pakistan’s role.
He is serving a 35-year prison sentence in the United States. India has repeatedly sought his extradition, but US authorities have refused, citing his cooperation deal.