NIA asks Rana about meeting in Dubai

THE NIA investigators, who continued interrogating extradited 2008 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana for the second day on Saturday, are trying to establish the identity of the man whom Rana had met in Dubai, sources aware of the development said.

- Mukesh Ranjan @New Delhi

The investigators suspect that the man whom Rana had met in Dubai was an operative of the Pakistan's overseas intelligence agency ISI. The sources said the investigators are keeping a "mystery witness", who knew Rana even before the 2008 terror attack, to confront him at an appropriate time during the course of questioning.

Since the investigation report, shared by the US authorities, mentions Rana's alleged meeting with an ISI official or its agent, who had the prior knowledge of the Mumbai terror plot, in Dubai, the sources said the investigators are trying to establish the identity of the man and his role in the conspiracy. The sources said, according to the US document records, David Coleman Headley had set up the Dubai meeting and prior to this he had warned Rana about the plot and against travelling to India. Headley is one of the prime accused in the case.

Meanwhile, the sources said the investigators are keeping a "protected mystery witness", who according to the NIA happens to be a childhood friend of both Rana and Headley. "Rana will be confronted with the witness at an appropriate time to nail him conclusively in the case," a source said.