New Delhi, May 1, (UNI) In a significant development in the ongoing investigation into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, a Delhi court has allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to collect voice and handwriting samples of Tahawwur Rana, a key accused and an alleged co-conspirator in the 2008 attack that shook India.
The permission was granted following an application filed by the NIA, which is probing Rana’s alleged involvement in facilitating and planning the deadly terrorist assault in Mumbai that claimed 166 lives, including foreign nationals.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana is a Pakistani-born Canadian businessman whom the United States extradited to India to face justice in the Mumbai terror attack. He is fighting extradition to India in a separate but related legal process.
Rana has been accused of providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let), the terrorist organisation responsible for the 26/11 attack. He is also alleged to have conspired with David Coleman Headley, his childhood friend and a key operative, in the attack.
Headley, now serving a 35-year sentence in the US, turned approver in the Indian probe and confirmed that Rana knowingly helped him conduct surveillance of the Mumbai sites attacked by terrorists.
The voice and handwriting samples are considered critical for verifying communications, planning documents, and travel records that could further establish Rana's direct role in the conspiracy.
Special NIA Judge Geetanjali Goel, while granting the NIA’s request, observed that such forensic samples are essential for the "effective continuation of the investigation and in the interest of justice." The samples will be matched with documents and audio recordings allegedly linked to the planning of the attack.
The 26/11 Mumbai terror attack remains one of the most brutal and internationally condemned terrorist incidents in Indian history.
The case has long been a point of diplomatic and counter-terror cooperation between India and the United States.
Although Rana was acquitted by a US court in 2011 of direct involvement in the Mumbai attacks, India has since gathered new evidence and pushed for extradition under its treaty with the US.
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