The responsibility of bringing Tawwur Hussain Rana, the prime accused of the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, has been entrusted to two senior officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). One of them is an Inspector General (IG) rank officer and the other deputy inspector general (DIG) rank, who played an important role in completing Rana’s extradition process from America. We are talking about NIA’s IG Ashish Batra and DIG Jaya Roy, who are leading this important mission.
This team of NIA reached America on Sunday. According to sources, DIG Jaya Roy signed a ‘surrender warrant’ to take Rana’s custody at Los Angeles on Tuesday evening. After this, the Indian team sent Rana to India on Wednesday morning by a special aircraft. It is being told that three other intelligence officials also supported this operation.
Ashish Batra: Experienced officer, whose experience is the backbone of the mission
Ashish Batra, a 1997 batch IPS officer, is from Jharkhand cadre. He is currently working as an IG in NIA. He was deputed for five years in the year 2019, which has now been extended by the Ministry of Home Affairs for two years since 15 September 2024. Before coming to the NIA, Batra was working as an IG of Jharkhand Jaguar (a special anti-encephaltic unit) from 20 January 2018. He has also been a spokesperson of the Jharkhand Police and also took over the additional responsibility of the IG campaign.
In his career, he has served in many important operational and administrative positions. His initial deployment was held in Jehanabad as an assistant superintendent for three months. After this he remained the SP of Koyal Kar and Hazaribagh. In Ranchi, he played the role of City SP for 19 months and was also deployed for one and a half years in the security of the governor.
Jaya Roy: Famous face in fight against cyber crime
Jaya Roy, a 2011 batch IPS officer, is also from Jharkhand cadre. Currently he holds the post of DIG in NIA. In 2019, he was deputed to the agency as Superintendent of Police (SP) for four years. He is now working in a senior position in the agency.
Jaya Roy’s most talked about posting was in Jamtara, where she took major action against cyber criminals. The operation under his leadership has now also been shown as a major web series, which gave his working style and leadership capacity across the country.
Long process of extradition from America
The same team of NIA was engaged in ensuring Tahwwur Rana’s return to India under extradition treaties and legal processes with America. Rana is accused of playing an active role in the 26/11 terror attacks and Indian agencies will bring him to India and inquire. This mission is not only sensitive from a legal point of view, but is also considered a decisive step in India’s internal security and terrorism.
64 -year -old Tehwwur Rana is a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin. He has been extradited to India for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The NIA alleges that Rana had helped his childhood friend and co-composed David Coleman Headley to install a visa and a fake immigration consultation firm to plan an attack in Mumbai. 166 people were killed in this attack, including six American citizens.