NIA questions Tahawwur Rana on ISI’s set-up in Karachi, Nepal

National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths are questioning Pakistan-born Canadian citizen Tahawwur Hussain Rana — the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind — about the Karachi and Nepal set-ups of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and trying to extract details about top Pakistani intelligence officials who held profound influence over the top brass of the Hafiz Saeed-led terror outfit, officials familiar with the matter said.

Rana’s childhood friend and co-accused David Coleman Headley had disclosed about the Karachi set-up and the Nepal set-up to the NIA sleuths when a team travelled to the US and questioned him in June 2010.

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“Headley had mentioned a Karachi set-up and a Nepal set-up run by Major Abdul Rehman Hashim Syed alias Pasha (key accused and handler in the 26/11 attacks case). The Karachi set-up, according to him, had local Indian boys for carrying out attacks and it had complete backing of ISI. Similarly, LeT also had a Karachi set-up, which was controlled by Sajid Mir (main ISI handler linked to the case) and had Maharashtra and Gujarat based boys,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.

“We are interrogating him (Rana) about these set-ups and individuals about whom Indian agencies don’t know,” the officer added.

According to Indian intelligence officers, Karachi set-up or Karachi project of Pasha was basically a plan to carry out a series of bomb attacks in India using local boys and leaders of homegrown terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) founded by Yasin Bhatkal, currently lodged in Tihar prison. One Colonel Shah of ISI was Pasha’s boss, according to officials.

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Rana, 64, is also being questioned about “all those ISI and Pakistani army senior officers who had profound influence and a great control over the top brass of LeT including Hafiz Saeed, according to Headley,” a second officer said, also declining to be named.

NIA arrested Rana after he was extradited from the US on April 10 and is questioning him at the agency’s headquarters on Lodhi Road in Delhi.

Officials said that NIA is also looking to gather more details from Rana about Abu Qahafa, Abu Alqama, Muzammil, Abu Anas and Abu Hamza — other key people involved in the November 26, 2008 attacks — based on details provided by Headley.

Abu Qahafa was identified as a senior LeT trainer and expert in handling arms and explosives who was involved in providing physical and technical training to 10 terrorists. Abu Alqama was a senior LeT commander in-charge of Kashmir set-up until 2008 and was involved in training and briefing of 10 terrorists. Muzammil was a close companion of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (operations chief of LeT), while Abu Anas was in-charge of LeT safehouse in Rawalpindi.

Headley’s interrogation and assessment by agencies had revealed that all these people were present in the control room in Karachi and were talking to the terrorists during the 26/11 attacks that claimed 166 lives and left hundreds of others injured in the heart of the financial capital of the country.