Sat Apr 12 04:27:02 UTC 2025: ## NIA Closes In on Elusive Dubai Figure Linked to 26/11 Mumbai Attacks

**New Delhi, India** – Fifteen years after the devastating 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is intensifying its investigation into a previously unknown individual who allegedly met key accused Tahawwur Rana in Dubai before the attacks. Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman and associate of convicted plotter David Coleman Headley, was recently extradited from the US and is now in high-security NIA custody in New Delhi.

NIA sources indicate that this unnamed Dubai contact had prior knowledge of the impending attacks. The agency is working with intelligence provided by US investigative agencies to identify and determine the role of this individual, who is suspected of having links to either Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a senior figure within the Pakistani Army, or a designated terrorist group operating from Pakistan. The fact that this individual’s identity remains concealed even within elite counter-terror networks highlights the significance of this new lead.

The investigation also focuses on the suspicious non-renewal of a Mumbai office lease held by Rana and Headley in November 2008. This office, allegedly used as a cover for Headley’s reconnaissance activities targeting key hotels and public sites, adds another layer to the investigation.

Further scrutiny is being placed on Rana’s travel to various Indian cities with his wife between November 13 and 21, 2008. The NIA suspects these trips, which included visits to Delhi, Mumbai, Agra, Hapur, Kochi, and Ahmedabad, may have been reconnaissance missions for potential future attacks.

The investigation also encompasses a wider network of individuals, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, operational commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, and alleged ISI officials Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali. These individuals are suspected of playing pivotal roles in the planning and execution of the attacks.

Rana, who attended military school with Headley in Pakistan, is being held under strict security measures at NIA headquarters. His interrogation is expected to shed light on the “Dubai connection” and possibly reveal further details about the scope and planning of the 26/11 attacks. The NIA’s current Director General, Sadanand Vasant Date, a senior police officer injured during the 26/11 attacks, is personally overseeing the investigation.

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