As the National Investigation gears up to interrogate the 2008 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana after his extradition on Thursday, new pictures have surfaced showing the 26/11 perpetrator being handed over to the Indian authorities by the US Marshals before boarding the flight to India,
These pictures, accessed by India TV, show a frail, handcuffed Rana with grey hair and a beard, wearing the same brown overalls he was seen in upon landing in Delhi. However, his face was not visible as they picture was shot from the back.
The terrorist is surrounded by armed personnel of the US Marshalls, before boarding a special aircraft.
After his successful extradition from the United States, the anti-terror agency formally arrested Rana upon his arrival at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Thursday evening and presented him before the NIA Special Court at Patiala House.
On Friday, the court granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) an 18-day custody of Rana. He was subsequently transported from the Patiala House courts complex to the NIA headquarters in a high-security motorcade, which included Delhi Police’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and other security personnel.
According to officials, Rana will be held in a highly secured cell within the NIA's headquarters at the CGO Complex.
According to the US State Department, 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 Laskhar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Between November 26 and 29, 2008, ten LeT terrorists carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks in Mumbai. They infiltrated the city by sea and then broke into teams, dispersing to multiple locations.
Attackers at a train station fired guns and threw grenades into crowds. Attackers at two restaurants shot indiscriminately at patrons. Attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel gunned people down and detonated explosives. Attackers also shot and killed people at a Jewish community center. When the terror finally subsided, 166 victims, including six Americans, were dead, along with all but one of the LeT terrorists. Hundreds more were injured, and Mumbai sustained more than $1.5 billion in property damage. The attacks were among the most horrific and catastrophic in India’s history.