Jaya Roy of 'Jamtara' fame and Ashish Batra of anti-insurgency ops: The NIA duo leading Tahawwur Rana probe

Two senior National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers, Jaya Roy and Ashish Batra, who led the extradition process of Tahawwur Hussain Rana from the United States, are also leading a 12-member team to probe the charges against the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The investigation agency was granted 18-day custody the day Tahawwur Rana was brought back to India. The NIA then began an extensive interrogation of the Mumbai terror attack mastermind to uncover the “deeper layers of the conspiracy” as the probe agency told a Delhi court it suspects he had plans to target other Indian cities as well with similar large-scale strikes.

The NIA’s interrogation is focused on getting more details on his possible connection with Pakistan-based LeT, which had orchestrated the strike in Mumbai. At the center of the interrogation are two IAS officers of Jharkhand cadre – Ashish Batra and Jaya Roy. Let's know who they are:

Ashish Batra, a 1997-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the Jharkhand cadre, is currently serving as the Inspector General (IG) with the NIA.

He was deputed to the NIA in 2019 for an initial five-year term, which was later extended by the Ministry of Home Affairs for an additional two years, now set to continue until September 15, 2024.

Prior to his appointment in the NIA, Batra served as the IG of Jharkhand Jaguar, a specialized anti-insurgency force.

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During his tenure in the Jharkhand Police, he also held multiple key responsibilities, including serving as the department’s spokesperson and handling additional duties as IG Abhiyan.

He served as an assistant superintendent of police in Jehanabad, where he served for three months, before taking over as superintendent of police in Koel Karo and subsequently in Hazaribagh.

Jaya Roy is a 2011-batch IPS officer from the Jharkhand cadre. She is serving as deputy inspector general in the NIA and also leading the investigation against Tahawwur Rana.

After completing her MBBS, Jaya Roy cleared her UPSC Civil Services exam in 2011.

She was deputed to the agency in 2019 as Superintendent of Police (SP) for a four-year term, which has since been extended. She is also known for cracking down on cybercrimes.