WASHINGTON — A terrorism suspect knew in advance about the deadly Mumbai terror attacks — and offered congratulations to the killers, federal prosecutors charged Monday.
Papers filed in federal court in Chicago say Tahawwur Hussain Rana learned an attack was about to happen while travelling days before the Nov. 26, 2008 start of the carnage that left 166 people dead.
Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian businessman, is charged with providing material support to terrorists. Prosecutors say after the Mumbai attacks, he told an alleged co-conspirator, David Coleman Headley, to pass along his congratulations to the terror group for its excellent planning and preparation.
“Rana was told of the attacks before they happened and offered compliments and congratulations to those who carried them out afterwards,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Collins wrote in the court filing.
The filing also charges that in a secretly recorded conversation in September 2009, Rana and Headley discussed possible attacks on a number of other sites in India. They include Somnath, a temple; Denmark, Bollywood, a reference to the Indian film industry, and Shiv Sena, a political party with strains of Hindu nationalism.