Don't give special treatment, biryani to Tahawwur Rana: Tea seller who helped 26/11 victims

Mumbai: A tea seller who helped many people escape the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks has said accused Tahawwur Rana should not be given any special treatment, like biryani or a separate cell, and demanded that he be hanged to death.

Talking to PTI, Mohammed Taufiq, also known as 'Chotu Chai Wala', also demanded stricter laws in the country to deal with terrorists.

Taufiq was operating his tea stall at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai when it came under attack from terrorists in November 2008. He recounted seeing people dying in front of his eyes during the assault.

He had then alerted a large number of people, guided them towards a safe direction at the station to escape from the attack and rushed many of the injured persons to hospital.

"There is no need to provide a separate cell, or biryani and other facilities to Tahawwur Rana, like those given to Ajmal Kasab (the lone terrorist from the Pakistani group captured alive)," Taufiq said.

Notably, Kasab's demand for mutton biryani in jail was just a myth and was "concocted" to stop an "emotional wave" which was being created in favour of the militant, Ujjwal Nikam, public prosecutor in the case, said in 2015.

"Kasab never demanded biryani and was never served by the government. I concocted it just to break an emotional atmosphere which was taking shape in favour of Kasab during the trial of the case," Nikam had said.

Tahawwur Rana, 64, is being brought to India after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition failed as the US Supreme Court justices rejected his application. He is expected to reach New Delhi on Thursday.

He is likely to be lodged in a high-security ward in Tihar jail in New Delhi when he reaches India.

Taufiq expressed gratitude to the US government and President Donald Trump for extraditing Rana to India.

"There should be a strict law in India also for terrorists. Rana being brought to India is a good news for us, but he should be hanged publicly within 15 days or in two-three months," the tea seller said.

"There is no need to give any special treatment to such people and spend crores of rupees on them like we did on Kasab. I will celebrate once Rana is given death penalty. He should be hanged to death before anyone tries to save him," Taufiq said.

The government has provided help to the victims but money cannot bring back anyone's life, he added.

On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack on the CSMT, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India's financial capital using the sea route in the Arabian Sea.

As many as 166 persons were killed in the nearly 60-hour terror assault.

Rana is a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of one of the main conspirators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen.

Kasab was hanged to death in Pune's Yerawada Jail in 2012.