Tahawwur Rana extradited: NIA arrests 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks accused

NIA arrests Tahawwur Hussain Rana after his arrival in India. PIC/ANI

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited" from the US following which he was formally arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), officials said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, officials said.

"With the active assistance of USDoJ, the US Sky Marshal, NIA worked closely with other Indian intelligence agencies, NSG through the entire extradition process, which also saw India's Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs coordinating with the other relevant authorities in the United States to take the matter to its successful conclusion," the NIA said in statement.

Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and special public prosecutor Narender Mann, who are representing the NIA, reached the Patiala House court premises, where Rana will be tried. Rana is likely to be lodged in a high-security ward in Tihar jail here when he reaches India, prison sources said. All necessary preparations have been made in the jail, they said.

In the US, Rana was lodged in the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles. He was held in judicial custody following proceedings initiated under the India-US Extradition Treaty for his extradition. The extradition finally came through after Rana exhausted all legal avenues to stay the move. The District Court for the Central District of California had ordered his extradition on May 16, 2023. Rana then filed multiple litigations in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, all of which were rejected.

He subsequently filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, two habeas petitions, and an emergency application before the US Supreme Court, which were also denied. Rana, 64, is a close associate of one of the main conspirators of the attacks, David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen. On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack. Among the 166 killed were US, British and Israeli nationals. Besides, 238 were injured.

Rana had served in the Pakistan Army medical corps before emigrating to Canada in late 1990s and started his immigration consultancy firm. He later moved to the US and set up an office in Chicago. Through his firm, Rana gave cover to Headley to carry out reconnaissance mission in Mumbai so that the terrorists could launch the attacks.

The officials said Rana's extradition would help probe agencies expose the role of Pakistani state actors behind the 26/11 attacks and may shed new light on the investigation.

Special prosecutor

The Centre has appointed a special public prosecutor to conduct a trial. In a late-night notification, the Union home ministry said advocate Narender Mann will be the special public prosecutor for conducting trial and other matters related to the NIA case RC-04/2009/NIA/DLI (Mumbai attacks) for three years.

Rana a Canadian national: Pakistan

Distancing itself from the case, Pakistan on Thursday said that it has nothing to do with terror accused Tahawwur Rana, asserting that he is a Canadian national and has not renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades. "He is a Canadian national and as per our record he has not renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades," Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said.

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