26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack Case: Extradition Of Thawwur Rane Partial Victory For India, Key Figure Headley Still Beyond Reach

Mumbai: The extradition of Thawwur Rane, a Canadian citizen of Pakistan origin, in connection with the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, is only a partial victory for the Indian government.

This is because a close associate of Rana, David Coleman Headly aka Dawood Gilani, who co-masterminded the massacre, is still way beyond the reach of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Without this American's custody there is no way all the dots of the conspiracy can be joined.

The NIA said Rana and Headly entered into a criminal conspiracy with the Lashkar-E-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HUJI), Pakistan-based terror outfits, to execute the dastardly attack at several locations in Mumbai.

According to the NIA, the roles of senior operatives of LeT and HUJI - Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Sajid Majid, Illyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman Hashim with the active connivance of ISI officers of ISI Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali has emerged.

The Special Court, NIA, Patiala House has issued non bailable warrants against all the accused persons. But, thats about all. Headley and Rana were arrested by law enforcement agencies in USA, but Washington has agreed to extradite only Rana, but not its own citizen Headly.

Sources in the security establishment said that was because Headly was a CIA asset and handing him over to the Indian authorities will open a big can of worms about the U.S. spy agency working.

"Headly is the proverbial man who knows too much. There is no way the U.S. would hand him over to India. A police team from India was given limited access to him in prison in the U.S. But that interaction was too limited to be able to extract any worthwhile information," a security agency official observed.

There were reports that the U.S. did not warn India of a terror attack, but apparently the intelligence was not of actionable nature. In any case, Indian agencies were caught napping as the ISI mounted an extremely well-planned attack on the commercial capital of India in which even a lesser-known Israeli target, the Chabad House in Colaba, was not spared.

What is unfortunate is that the authorities have not been able to unearth the Indian angle to the attack. A massive attack of this nature could not have been carried out without local support.

The movement of the boat carrying Ajmal Kasab and his accomplices from Pakistan via the Gujarat coast with precision landing in the sea at Nariman Point opposite Badhwar Park, the cab ride to Colaba, entry into Taj and Trident luxury hotels, CST et al was also possible because of extensive recce and local support from the oil mafia of Mohd Ali. The failure of the Coast Guard to detect the terrorists is another mystery which remains unsolved.

The government appears to have learnt absolutely no lessons from this tragic episode. Mumbai continues to be as vulnerable as it was on 26/11.