Tahawwur Rana charged in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks extraditable to India: US attorney

Tahawwur Rana is the fifth accused to be charged in the 26/11 attacks. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Convicted terrorist Tahawwur Rana of Chicago is seeking quick release from prison and is resisting an extradition request from India. According to US Court of Appeals records, Assistant US Attorney and Criminal Appeals Chief Bram Alden argued that Rana is extraditable under the terms of the US-India extradition treaty, emphasising that US lower courts that have already approved Rana's extradition to India were correct in their decision, reported ANI.

"Lower courts here got it right. Rana is extraditable to India under the plain provisions of the treaty and India has established probable cause to prosecute him for his role in terrorist attacks that resulted in 166 deaths and 239 injuries," Alden said in his opening statement per the report.

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Rana was caught by the FBI in Chicago less than a year after the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The alleged terrorist ran a travel agency in Chicago 15 years ago when he and his friend David Coleman Headley investigated Mumbai locations and landing zones for the attack.

According to investigators, the Pakistani terrorists who carried out the horrific attack followed a model that Rana helped create. Both Rana and Headley are accused of helping the terrorist plan. While Headley cooperated with detectives, Rana contested the allegations and lost.

Per the ANI report, Rana, who had served a 14-year jail sentence in the United States, was ready to be released when India requested his extradition.

Alden stated that there is documentation evidence that Rana gave material support to the Pakistani terrorist group responsible for the attack. "Rana said that he was informed about what was going on by one of their co-conspirators in Pakistan and his praise for what was carried out in a gruesome terrorist attack that killed 166 people injured 239 more and cost India USD 1.5 million," Alden told the tribunal, stated ANI.

According to the report, the US attorney reminded the court that the 'Mumbai Massacre,' also known as India's 9/11, was a multi-day siege of Mumbai by terrorists from Pakistan.

"The terrorists attacked a number of bars, restaurants, the Chabad House, there were other targets in India that they were attacking in Mumbai. It was their (India's) 911. It was a devastating attack over the course of multiple days. That resulted as I have said in 166 deaths including six Americans, that is why India wants to prosecute this case, and under the extradition treaty and has every right to do so," Alden emphasised.

According to court documents, Rana's lawyers argued last month against his extradition to India to stand trial for the Mumbai Massacre.

Rana's defence has asserted double jeopardy, which is banned by the United States Constitution, as well as the high chance of Rana's death while in foreign custody.

Rana remains in custody, having been transferred to a federal jail in Los Angeles.