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As Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian-Pakistani businessman and a key conspirator in the 2008, 26/11 Mumbai attacks, sits in a high-security prison cell in New Delhi, investigators are peeling back layers of one of India’s most high-profile terrorism cases. Fresh interrogations and years-old indictments are once again bringing into focus Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and its alleged role in orchestrating the attacks that left 166 dead, including six Americans.
Rana’s Extradition and 26/11 Mumbai Attacks Investigation
Rana’s extradition from the United States followed a prolonged legal battle, and his return to India has renewed scrutiny over two accused ISI operatives: Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali. Both men remain on the most-wanted list of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA).
According to reports, Rana will be interrogated about their alleged involvement, specifically whether he coordinated with them in the days leading up to the attack.
The 26/11 Mumbai Attacks Handler: Major Iqbal
Major Iqbal has been identified as a key player in the attack’s planning and execution. A 2018 report by the Press Trust of India (PTI) cited a 2010 Chicago indictment naming him as a serving ISI officer who financed and directed reconnaissance missions conducted by David Coleman Headley.
Headley, a Pakistani-American who acted as a double agent, provided crucial intelligence that enabled the attacks. He pleaded guilty in 2010 to avoid the death penalty and, in his 2011 testimony, described Major Iqbal as his primary ISI handler. Headley claimed Iqbal was part of a trio of ISI officials who “recruited, trained, and directed” him.
Headley also revealed that he exchanged over 20 emails with an individual he knew as “Chaudhery Khan”—an alias for Major Iqbal. One email from May 2008 discussed exploiting Rajaram Rege, then a Shiv Sena member, to bolster their cover.
Conversations Between Major Iqbal And Headley
“Headley had met me outside the Sena Bhavan with one Vilas Warke. He wanted me to show him the Sena Bhavan from inside, but I had flatly declined his request. My meeting with him had only lasted two minutes,” Rege told PTI in 2016.
Another email instructed Headley to update Major Iqbal about “the projects” and surveillance equipment.
A U.S. indictment accused Major Iqbal of participating in the planning and funding of attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistan-based terror group responsible for 26/11. It charged him with six counts related to aiding terrorism and murder, alleging he funneled money and resources to LeT. However, the document notably did not explicitly mention the ISI.
The Control Room: Major Sameer Ali
While Major Iqbal was allegedly the architect, Major Sameer Ali has been described as the operational commander who oversaw the attacks in real-time. According to 26/11 handler Zabiuddin Ansari, alias Abu Jundal, arrested by Delhi Police in 2012, Sameer Ali managed the attack from a control room in Karachi’s Malir Cantonment, a military garrison area.
Jundal’s testimony describes Ali issuing directives to LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi during the three-day siege.
An Interpol Red Notice describes Sameer Ali as having been born in Lahore in 1966, fluent in Urdu, Hindi, and English, and wanted by India for organized crime and terrorism. However, Pakistan has repeatedly denied his existence, calling him a “fictitious character.”
According to a 2012 Economic Times report, Jundal told interrogators that Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided and destroyed the Karachi control room weeks after the Mumbai attacks. Months later, Lakhvi was arrested at Baitul Mujahideen camp in Muzaffarabad, in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. However, Jundal and Abu Qahafa—a combat trainer named in the indictment—escaped through a rear exit.
Also Read: Explained: How Foreign Media Covered The Extradition Of 26/11 Mumbai Attacks Plotter Tahawwur Rana
