By Gautam Debroy
New Delhi: As the sleuths of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have been interrogating 26/11 Mumbai terror attack alleged conspirator Tahawwur Rana for the sixth day on Wednesday, former inspector general of the anti-terror agency, Loknath Behera has expressed optimism that names of some more people "involved with the terror act" may come to the light following Rana's interrogation.
Behera also claimed that several other handlers, associates, and conspirators may be involved with the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
"There is also a possibility that he (Rana) may be knowing some other people about whom investigators do not know. It is possible that he may tell some other handlers, associates, conspirators etc, which we don’t know. That is very crucial for us," said Behera told ETV Bharat.
The 1985 batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre, Behera was one of the founding members of NIA. Behera was also the lead investigator assigned to investigate the Mumbai terror attack that killed 166 people besides injuring several others.
"Rana is a charge-sheeted accused person in two cases. In one case, a chargesheet has been filed by NIA, and another by Mumbai Police. So, on that basis, legally, he is very important. He is an accused and he has to face the trial," said Behera.
The main facilitator
Behera claimed that "Rana was the main facilitator for David Coleman Headley, who played a very important role in the Mumbai attack and other conspiracies to attack various other places."
"Rana was a facilitator, so he is important. Rana can also give some ideas of funding and other support, etc, to the attackers," said Behera.
Other people may be involved
"Investigators always try to find out the possibilities. Circumstances are such that there is a great possibility that some other people may be involved,” said Behera. During the course of the investigation, Behera also visited the US to interrogate Headley.
Existence of sleeper cells of terrorists
When asked about the existence of terrorist sleeper cells in India, Behera said that the investigators will try to find out all possibilities. During the investigation in several other cases, the NIA has earlier claimed that several terrorist organisations have been attempting to revive sleeper cells in major towns and cities across India.
"The terrorist organisations have been trying to revive sleeper cells in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar. We have already alerted the law-enforcing agencies in the states concerned about this development," a senior NIA official said.
The agency has identified terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and others, which were activating sleeper cells with the help of local collaborators.
"They were planning to carry out attacks in urban areas and highly crowded public places. The revelations involving the sleeper cells surfaced following NIA's investigation into the Pakistan-backed Ghazwa-e-Hind module case. The NIA investigation further stated that with the help of Ghazwa-e-Hind, terrorists were trying to radicalise gullible Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Yemeni youths and recruit them as sleeper cells," the agency claimed.
Rana visited several cities across India
According to the NIA chargesheet, Rana had visited a number of places including Delhi, Puskar, Kochi and other places of strategic importance.
"They had definitely planned to keep this target in future attacks. So, information coming out from Rana will be helpful for all," said Behera.
NIA to expedite in filling supplementary chargesheet
The NIA has 30-days-time to interrogate Rana. "They already got 18 days. The agency will also get another 12 days. After that, there are several verifications and cross-verifications that need to be done. I have a feeling that they will expedite the entire process so that they could file the supplementary chargesheet at the earliest," said Behera.
Months after the terror attack in Mumbai, both Rana and Headley were arrested in 2009 by the American security agencies in the US.
The NIA in its first charge sheet named seven accused involved in the terror attack apart from Rana and Headley. During the course of investigation, the roles of senior functionaries of the banned terrorist outfits LeT and HUJI, namely 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, with active connivance and assistance from officers of ISI, namely Major Iqbal alias Major Ali, and Major Sameer Ali alias Major Samir, all residents of Pakistan, have emerged.
US Department of Justice on Rana
According to the US Department of Justice on Rana, Rana (64), is charged in India with numerous offenses, including conspiracy, murder, commission of a terrorist act, and forgery, related to his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks committed by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), a designated foreign terrorist organisation. Between November 26 and 29, 2008, ten LeT terrorists carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks in Mumbai.
Rana facilitated a fraudulent cover so that his childhood friend David Coleman Headley, a US citizen born Daood Gilani, could freely travel to Mumbai for the purpose of conducting surveillance of potential attack sites for LeT, the US Department of Justice said.
