India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) believes Rana may have been involved in plotting additional attacks on other Indian cities. Investigators say they need extended custody to thoroughly question him and uncover the full extent of the conspiracy. Rana, once a military doctor in Pakistan, later moved to Canada and set up an immigration consultancy business in Chicago. He was convicted in the United States for providing support to the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which carried out the Mumbai attacks, and for his role in a failed plot to attack a Danish newspaper.

In 2013, he was sentenced to 14 years in U.S. prison. Authorities say Rana helped Headley carry out surveillance missions and provided logistical help for the Mumbai attacks, which claimed 166 lives and injured more than 230 in coordinated strikes across the city, including hotels, a train station, and a Jewish community center. The NIA told a Delhi court that Rana’s interrogation is crucial to piece together events from nearly two decades ago and to investigate his connections with other terrorists. Officials plan to confront him with evidence, take him to key locations, and question him about his communications with Headley and others involved, such as Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman. Notably, Rana had reportedly discussed crowded areas in South Mumbai prior to the attacks, raising suspicions that he may have been directly involved in scouting targets.

He appeared before a special court under tight security, with SWAT teams and restricted access to the premises. The judge approved 18 days of custody and ordered regular health check-ups and supervised access to his legal counsel. Rana’s extradition, which was cleared by the U.S. Supreme Court, is seen as a breakthrough in the ongoing investigation into the 26/11 attacks. Officials hope his questioning will shed more light on Pakistan’s involvement and help expose wider terror networks targeting India.