Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the 64-year-old Pakistani-Canadian extradited to India after a prolonged diplomatic struggle, has laid bare critical details about his role in orchestrating the devastating 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 170 people in 2008. Interrogated by the Mumbai Police crime branch, Rana’s confessions expose the intricate planning behind the strikes, his ties to mastermind David Coleman Headley, and his covert operations backed by Pakistan’s military establishment.

Rana revealed that he completed an MBBS at Pakistan’s Army Medical College in Rawalpindi in 1986 and served as a Captain doctor in sensitive regions like Sindh, Balochistan, Bahawalpur, and Siachen-Balotra. A pulmonary edema diagnosis during his Siachen posting led to his absence from duty, branding him a deserter by the Pakistani Army. He claimed Headley, a childhood friend from Cadet College Hasan Abdal (1974–1979), lured him into the terror plot with promises of clearing his military record.

According to Rana, Headley described Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a sophisticated spy network rather than a purely ideological group, with Headley attending three LeT training camps between 2003 and 2004. Rana admitted to establishing the Immigrant Law Centre, a front company run by a woman, to facilitate Headley’s surveillance across Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Pushkar, Goa, and Pune. He confessed to visiting Mumbai on November 20–21, 2008, staying at a Powai hotel to scout targets like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, departing for Beijing via Dubai just before the attacks.

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Rana further disclosed his connections to Pakistani officials Sajid Mir, Abdul Rehman Pasha, and Major Iqbal, all accused of masterminding the attacks, and admitted to coordinating with LeT and Pakistan’s ISI. He also revealed undertaking a secret mission to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, entrusted by Pakistan’s military due to his reliability. When pressed about forged Indian documents used by the terrorists, Rana deflected blame to the Indian Embassy, though investigations confirm he aided Headley’s entry into India with false papers.

Rana’s revelations paint a chilling picture of a calculated plot, exposing the depth of his complicity in one of India’s deadliest terror attacks. As investigations continue, Rana’s confessions offer critical insights into the network that enabled the 26/11 tragedy.

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