Verdict in Rana case not a setback to India, says Govt

Government today said the verdict in the Tahawwur Rana case in a US court, holding the Pakistani-Canadian not guilty for the Mumbai attacks, is not a setback as India does not rely overtly on prosecution of terror suspects in other countries.

"I do not see it as a setback as our case (India) is still under investigation," Secretary, Internal Security in the Ministry of Home Affairs, U K Bansal told reporters here.

Bansal said, "Prosecution in India against Rana and his co-accused David Headley depends on our own investigations which is being done by Indian investigating agencies.

"In our handling of terrorism in India, we do not rely overtly on prosecution in other countries. We have to rely on our own strength," he said.

Bansal said government will go to the court against the 26/11 accused with its own investigation.

Pakistan Planned The Murder Of Innocent US Citizens in Mumbai

Prosecutors accused a Chicago businessman Monday of facilitating the November 2008 terrorist attacks that killed more than 160 people in Mumbai, India. But the defense argued that he was an unwitting victim betrayed by a business associate and longtime friend.

As Tahawwur Hussain Rana's trial began in a Chicago courtroom Monday, prosecutors said he allowed his office, First World Immigration Services, to be used as a front for a co-conspirator traveling abroad to scout possible locations for the terrorist attacks, according to court records.

Rana is also accused of taking part in a plot to bomb the offices of a Danish newspaper that had published irreverent cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed and angered Muslims across the world.
He has pleaded not guilty.

Defense attorney Charles Smith didn't deny Rana's connections with David Coleman Headley, who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges related to the Mumbai attacks last year.
The two men were classmates in high school and frequently loaned money to each other over the years, Smith said in his opening statement.