More than 16 years after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks,key accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana was extradited from the US and brought back to India on Thursday via a special chartered plane by a joint team of investigators.
The 64-year-old Canadian national of Pakistani origin is alleged to have provided logistical support, including a visa through his Chicago-based immigration firm, to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley (also known as Daood Gilani) ahead of the 2008 attacks.
An aircraft carrying Rana landed shortly after 6 pm Thursday at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport under heavy security. He was formally arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) soon after completion of legal formalities at the airport. His medical examination too was done at the airport.
Around 10 pm, he was taken to the Patiala House Courts where he was produced before Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh. The NIA sought his custody for 20 days and the Delhi court has sent him to 18-days NIA custody.
The court, which reserved its order, had not made its decision public until 1 am Friday. At around 2.10 am a spokesperson of the NIA said, “Rana was produced before the NIA Special Court at Patiala House by the NIA after his formal arrest. Rana will remain in NIA custody for 18 days, during which time the agency will question him in detail in order to unravel the complete conspiracy behind the deadly 2008 attacks, in which a total of 166 persons were killed and over 238 injured.”
His extradition to India was announced by US President Donald Trump on February 14 during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington. The District Court for the Central District of California had ordered Rana’s extradition on May 16, 2023, but he filed multiple appeals, including petitions before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court, all of which were rejected.
In a statement, the NIA said it “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”.
Before the Mumbai attacks, Rana had served in the Pakistan Army medical corps before emigrating to Canada in the late 1990s. He later moved to the US and established an immigration consultancy firm in Chicago, which he used to facilitate Headley’s reconnaissance missions in Mumbai. Officials believe Rana’s extradition could help uncover further details about the involvement of Pakistani state actors in the 26/11 attacks.