The story so far: Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, accused of playing a major role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in India, is extraditable under the plain provisions of the U.S.-India extradition treaty, an attorney has told a U.S Court of Appeals, where Rana appealed against an order made by a California District Court.
The California court had earlier denied his writ of habeus corpus, which challenged a court order acceding to the request of the U.S. government that those accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks be extradited to India.
In a closing argument made before the U.S Court of Appeals, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Criminal Appeals Chief Bram Alden said that “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.”
Rana, 63, has been incarcerated in a Los Angeles prison since the extradition request by India was accepted by the U.S. He faces several criminal charges for his role in the Mumbai terror attacks, He is also known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, also known as “Daood Gilani,” one of the chief conspirators of the attacks, helping him and others located in Pakistan to assist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in carrying out the Mumbai attacks.
Who is Tahawwur Rana?
Tahawwur Hussain Rana was formerly an army doctor in Pakistan. He studied in Pakistan but later went to Canada as a businessman, reportedly specialising in immigration services. He owned First World Immigration Services, with offices in Chicago and other locations.
He is a school friend of terrorist David Headley, a U.S. citizen partially of Pakistani descent, and also a resident of Chicago. Headley is currently serving 35 years in a US prison after he was convicted for his role in planning the 2008 attacks in various locations in Mumbai.
Rana is wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his role in the November 26, 2008 terror attack, in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege to various iconic locations in the heart of Mumbai, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Taj Mahal Hotel, Nariman House and the Cama and Albless Hospital. A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the horrendous attack.
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What was Rana’s alleged role in the 26/11 attacks?
Rana is accused of providing the blueprint that helped Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) carry out the Mumbai attacks. He has been charged with criminal conspiracy, waging or attempting to wage war against the Government of India, murder, and forgery for the purpose of cheating, and other crimes under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Rana is also wanted for his role in plotting attacks on the National Defence College and Chabad House, the Jewish outreach centre in Mumbai. He had also reportedly helped plan an attack on a Danish newspaper, in which Headley too was involved.
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Before the Mumbai attacks, Rana reportedly helped long-term associate Headley obtain a multiple-entry business visa to India through Raymond Sanders, who ran an immigrant law centre in Chicago.
In a chargesheet filed against Rana in the early stages of the investigation, Mumbai police said that came to India on November 11, 2008 and stayed in the country till November 21.
During a cross examination before a special court in Mumbai in March 2016, Headley said Rana knew he was acting as spy and that Rana did not object to his association with LeT and his participation in the attacks. Rana had reportedly helped Headley open a Mumbai branch of First World Immigration Services in 2006 as a cover to conduct reconnaissance of the targets attacked on November 26, 2008. Headley informed the court that he had visited the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to recruit people for the attacks upon instructions from Major Iqbal of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and that Rana knew about this. Rana was also aware of the specifics of the attacks in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and its second floor as the two had discussed attack targets in great detail.
Rana had also reportedly provided money to Headley when he was carrying out the recce in Mumbai, giving him $500 (around ₹22,500) in September 2006, ₹67,605 in October 2006, ₹17,636 in November and $1,000 (₹45,000) in December 2006.
Rana’s extradition
On December 4, 2019, India submitted a diplomatic note to the U.S. to extradite Rana. Further, on June 10, 2020, India filed a complaint seeking the provisional arrest of Rana with a view towards extradition. The Biden Administration supported and approved the extradition of Rana to India. The two countries have a long-standing bilateral Extradition Treaty, signed in 1997.
Rana was re-arrested in the U.S. after the extradition request by India in June 2020. He had earlier been in federal custody in Chicago, after being arrested in October 18, 2008 on charges pertaining to the attack planned in Denmark. He was briefly released in 2020 on compassionate grounds after he informed a U.S Court that he had tested positive for Covid-19.
Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court Central District of California, acceded to India’s extradition request, in a 48-page order dated May 16, 2023.
With inputs from Sonam Saigal and agencies
