Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the Mumbai 2008 attacks, was brought to India on a special flight on Thursday after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition failed as the US Supreme Court justices rejected his application
Rana is a close associate of one of the main conspirators of the attacks, David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen. Pic/PTI
A plane carrying Tahawwur Rana, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks alleged mastermind on Thursday afternoon arrived in Delhi following his extradition from the US, official sources said.
Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the Mumbai 2008 attacks, was brought to India on a special flight on Thursday after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition failed as the US Supreme Court justices rejected his application.
Tahawwur Rana's extradition to India was followed thereafter.
In a setback to Tahawwur Rana, a US court had earlier ruled that the Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman could be extradited to India where is wanted for his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in 2008.
64-year old Rana, 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 trained Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage and had carried out coordinated attacks on Mumbai iconic CSMT railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre. They had sneaked into Mumbai using the sea route.
As many as 166 people were killed in the nearly 60-hour attack.
Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in a statement on Thursday said that it has successfully secured the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana.
The statement said, "The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday successfully secured the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind of the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem to justice."
It said, "Rana was being held in judicial custody in the US pursuant to 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 16th May 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 U.S. Supreme Court, which were also denied. The extradition proceedings were initiated between the two countries after India eventually secured a surrender warrant for the wanted terrorist from the US government, the NIA statement said.
It further said that 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.
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