Indians ‘deserved it’: Tahawwur Rana told David Headley after 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks; focus shifts to ISI role

Tahawwur Rana, a key conspirator in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, had allegedly said that Indians “deserved it”, after 166 people lost their lives during the 26/11 attacks.

The US Department of Justice, which facilitated the extradition of Tahawwur Rana to India, further said that the key conspirator commended the nine LeT terrorists killed during the attack, suggesting that they should be given “Nishan-e-Haider”, Pakistan’s highest gallantry award.

The US on Wednesday extradited Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian citizen, to stand trial in India over the 10 criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai.

“Rana’s extradition is a critical step toward seeking justice for the six Americans and scores of other victims who were killed in the heinous attacks,” the DoJ said in a statement.

Mumbai terror attacks: Indian’s ‘deserved it’?

India alleges that Tahawwur Rana orchestrated a fraudulent cover so that his childhood friend David Coleman Headley, a US citizen born Daood Gilani, could travel to Mumbai to conduct a surveillance of potential attack sites for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

After the attack, Rana allegedly told Headley, one of the main conspirators of the assault, that the Indians “deserved it”, the DoJ statement said.

“In an intercepted conversation with Headley, Rana allegedly commended the nine LeT terrorists who had been killed committing the attacks, saying that “they should be given Nishan-e-Haider”-Pakistan’s highest award for gallantry in battle, which is reserved for fallen soldiers,” the statement read.

The ISI link

An investigation by the NIA has revealed that senior functionaries of banned terror groups LeT and HUJI were involved in the 12 co-ordinated Mumbai terrorist attacks between November 26 and November 29, 2008. The names that have emerged include – 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.

These people allegedly were working in active connivance and assistance from Pakistan spy agency ISI’s officers namely Major Iqbal alias Major Ali, Major Sameer Ali alias Major Samir, all residents of Pakistan, officials have said.

This has put India’s focus back on ISI’s role regarding the heinous crime, which shook the world to the core and has left a permanent wound on India’s modern history.

According to sources quoted by NDTV, Tahawwur Rana will now be grilled over Major Sameer Ali and Major Iqbal.

Who are Major Sameer Ali and Major Iqbal?

Both residents of Pakistan, Major Sameer Ali and Major Iqbal were allegedly functioning as ISI officers at the time of the attack.

Major Iqbal, who has been identified by the US as a serving ISI officer in 2010, had a major role to play in the attack. As per an NDTV report, Major Iqbal had “financed, directed, and micromanaged” the survey missions where Headley went to.

Mint could not independently verify this claim.

Headley has described the ISI agent as the one who was his primary handler in an agency that “recruited, trained, and directed” him for the attacks.

A US indictment said Iqbal was a “resident of Pakistan who participated in planning and funding attacks by Lashkar” and charged him with six counts of aiding terrorism and murder, adding he facilitated funds and resources to LeT.

Sameer Ali, on the other hand, was the person who oversaw the Mumbai attacks live from an LeT control room in Karachi, according to the NDTV report quoting 26/11 handler Zabiuddin Ansari (alias Abu Jundal) who was arrested in 2012.

Jundal in his testimony allegedly said that Sameer Ali issued instructions to LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi during the 26/11 attacks.