Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], April 11 (ANI): Brigadier Govind Singh Sisodia (Retd), who commanded the Black Cat Commando operation during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack on Friday called the operation 'tough,' and said that terror-accused Tahawwur Rana is the person India has been looking for since 2008.

Speaking to ANI, Brigadier Govind Singh Sisodia (Retd) said that Tahawwur Rana is the main person who facilitated David Headley's coming to India.

'Tahawwur Rana is the person we've been looking for...He was the main person who facilitated David Headley's coming to India, staying here and starting an immigration consulting centre in Mumbai...What was the support based in India, who supported in Pakistan, what had he planned, and he has been planning for three years. How had he planned, what were his future plans and targets, and who were his helpers in India?... But now everything will come out,' Brigadier Govind Singh Sisodia (Retd) said.

He further said that the people who will be questioning Tahawwur Rana are professional

'Those people who will be questioning him are professional. They have been on this case since 2008. They have been chasing Tahawwur Rana. I think sooner or later he will be talking and we will get to the depth of it and it will be another thing that will be able to nail Pakistan in the eyes of the International community,' he added.

He further said that the challenges that NSG faced during the operation were identification, getting in touch, layout, and the country's expectations.

'This operation was very tough, though I have been through such situations a number of times in my life. I operated in Sri Lanka as part of IPKF. I operated thick of it in Jammu and Kashmir. There were similar kinds, but not to the level that we had to do so many buildings. It posed a lot of challenges. It posed a challenge to the country and the people. The country had a lot of expectations from us. People had a lot of expectations from us because the government of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs, has launched its ultimate weapon, Brahmastra, which is a national security guard. So expectations were very high,' he said.

'Secondly, initially, inputs about the terrorists were not there. How many are there, actually? Where are they initially? Later on, yes, it kept building intelligence agencies. You know, we joined all the intelligence agencies together, and they started providing us information. Also, at some stage, we had a very clear picture, but initially, we had no idea what it was. So that was also another challenge: identification, getting in touch, layout, and the expectation of the country. These are the biggest challenges that we had. Otherwise NSG is a very professional organisation. We practise for all the confidences. We were prepared, but these were the challenges which we faced,' Retired Brigadier Govind Singh Sisodia said.

The 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused Tahawwur Rana will remain in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for 18 days, where he will be questioned in detail about the 'complete conspiracy' behind the deadly 2008 attacks, said the agency.

The anti-terror agency has presented compelling evidence, including emails sent by 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused Tahawwur Rana, to justify his police custody. The agency informed the court that custodial interrogation is crucial to uncovering a sinister plot. Investigators will also examine Rana's role in orchestrating the deadly terror attacks.

NIA further states that, as part of the criminal conspiracy, accused No. 1, David Coleman Headley, had discussed the entire operation with Tahawwur Rana before his visit to India. Anticipating potential challenges, Headley sent an email detailing his belongings and assets to Rana. He also informed Rana about the involvement of Ilyas Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman in the plot.

Rana's extradition marks a significant step in the pursuit of justice for the victims of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. (ANI)