US charges Rana with plotting 26/11

A federal grand jury in Chicago on Thursday indicted Tahawwur Hussain Rana (49) — arrested along with David Headley for their links to the Laskhkar-e-Tayebba — for conspiring to carry out the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The indictment is a first step to pressing formal charges. Until now, Rana had only been charged with conspiracy to attack Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which had carried irreverent cartoons featuring Prophet Mohammed.

The document said Rana gave “material support in preparation for, and in carrying out, the Mumbai attacks”.

Two others — former Pakistani major Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed and Ilyas Kashmiri — were also indicted, but only for planning the attack on Jyllands-Posten. Both are believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

Rana’s lawyer, Patrick Blegen, argued that his client had no connection to 26/11 but the indictment stated otherwise.

Headley has already been indicted for his role in the 26/11 strikes. But the document provides fresh details of his complicity. According to it, around June 2006, Headley met Rana in Chicago and told him of his “assignment to scout potential targets in India”.