26/11: Tihar jail officials cite security reasons to deny Tahawwur Rana regular phone chats with kin

New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Officials of Tihar jail have told a Special NIA Court that 26/11 mastermind Tahawwur Rana cannot be regularly allowed to speak to his family members on the telephone due to security reasons, a lawyer said on Friday.

The prison authorities opposed Rana’s plea for regular telephonic contact with family members in their response filed before the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Judge at Patiala House Court.

Rana’s plea seeking permission to speak to his family members over the phone is not new. The court had earlier accepted his similar request and allowed him to speak to his family once.

Tihar officials filed the response after the Special Court asked them to clarify their stand on the Pakistani-Canadian national and Mumbai terror attack mastermind’s application seeking permission to have regular telephonic contact with family members.

Rana, who was extradited from the US in April to stand trial in the Mumbai attack case, is in judicial custody till August 13.

Earlier, Rana also sought a bed in his cell in Tihar prison, which was approved by the court and the facility was provided by the jail authorities.

During the earlier proceedings, the NIA informed the court that they had handed over all documents related to Rana’s health to the jail administration.

On June 6, the Special NIA Court had called for a status report from Tihar jail authorities after Rana’s counsel flagged his deteriorating health condition.

The NIA has already filed a supplementary charge sheet against Rana, a former officer of the Pakistan Army’s Medical Corps, following an initial charge sheet filed against him in 2012.

The latest set of charges also included Rana’s arrest memo, seizure memos, and several other related documents.

The NIA had also collected voice and handwriting samples of Rana as a precursor to match them with recordings of his telephonic discussions with 26/11 co-accused David Coleman Headley.

NIA sources had earlier said that during interrogation, Rana had claimed that his childhood friend and co-accused Headley was solely responsible for the reconnaissance and planning aspects of 26/11.

Jailed in the US, Headley, who turned approver in the case, had earlier admitted to conducting recce missions across India, including Mumbai, on behalf of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

--IANS

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