Terrorists ‘should be given Pak gallantry award’ Rana said post-26/11: US
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New Delhi: The US Department of Justice (DoJ) revealed that Tahawwur Rana had expressed admiration for the nine LeT terrorists behind the the 26/11 Mumbai attack saying that they should be given Pakistan’s highest gallantry award.
Rana is reported to have told his fellow conspirator David Coleman Headley at the time that the terrorists deserved the ‘Nishan-e-Haider’, the gallantry award reserved for fallen soldiers, The Indian Express reported.
Alongside, Rana callously told Headley after the Mumbai attack that Indians ‘deserved it’.
However, more than 16 years after he made the inhuman comments, Rana is brought back to India to face justice.
Producing him before a Delhi court, India’s National Investigation Agency ( NIA) requested 20 days of custody but the court granted 18 days.
Rana, who is accused of providing logical support to the terrorists, previously served in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps.
Nine months after the Mumbai attacks, Rana was arrested in Chicago in October, 2009 and the 64-year old is facing charges in India including conspiracy, murder, forgery and commission of a terrorist act.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Friday that Rana facilitated cover to his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to conduct recce in Mumbai.
The DoJ reportedly stated: ‘Among other things, Rana allegedly agreed to open a Mumbai branch of his immigration business and appoint Headley as the manager of the office, despite Headley’s having no immigration experience. On two separate occasions, Rana allegedly helped Headley prepare and submit visa applications to Indian authorities that contained information Rana knew to be false. Rana also allegedly supplied, through his unsuspecting business partner, documentation in support of Headley’s attempt to secure formal approval from Indian authorities to open a branch office of Rana’s business.’
Alongside, the DoJ called Rana’s extradition a ‘critical step toward seeking justice for victims of the attack.
Arrived in Mumbai by the sea, terrorists zeroed in on several locations in the city killing 166 people — including six Americans alongside causing property damage of $1.5 billion.
