Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman implicated in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is on the verge of being extradited to India. The Us Court of Appeals has ruled in favour of his extradition under the treaty between the United States and India. This decision follows a significant setback for Rana, as a U.S. court previously determined that he could be sent to India to face charges related to his involvement in the terrorist attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Tahawwur Rana 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack
Why In News
- Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman implicated in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is on the verge of being extradited to India. The Us Court of Appeals has ruled in favour of his extradition under the treaty between the United States and India. This decision follows a significant setback for Rana, as a U.S. court previously determined that he could be sent to India to face charges related to his involvement in the terrorist attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Charges Against Tahawwur Rana
- For those unversed, Tahawwur Rana faced three main charges in a Chicago federal court relating to his involvement in the Danish case, providing support to Lashkar, and conspiring for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
- He was acquitted of the Mumbai attack charge, but convicted in the other two and sentenced to 14 years. The appeals court ruled that his acquittal in the Mumbai attack charge did not affect his extradition because in India he faces several different charges.
- The charges include conspiracy, waging war, murder, terrorism, and forgery, the judgement noted. Rana was released after seven years on compassionate grounds during the Covid pandemic, following which India requested his extradition to face trial there, which the magistrate judge approved. Rana is a former Pakistan Army doctor who set up an immigration service after immigrating to Canada.
- In July last year, A US court rejected the USD 1.5 million bail application of the Pakistani-origin Canadian describing him a flight risk.
- Rana, a childhood friend of David Coleman Headley, was re-arrested on June 10 last year in Los Angeles on an extradition request by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed. He is a declared fugitive in India.
- court’s ruling confirmed that India provided sufficient evidence supporting the claims against Rana, who was tried in a US district court for his support of terrorist activities. While he was convicted for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiring in a foiled plot against Denmark, he was acquitted of charges related to the Mumbai attacks. After serving seven years in prison.
- Rana was released on compassionate grounds, prompting India to request his extradition. The 2008 Mumbai attacks resulted in the deaths of 166 individuals, including six Americans, when ten terrorists launched coordinated assaults across the city over more than 60 hours.
- Rana’s name appears in a comprehensive charge sheet related to these attacks, where he is accused of assisting David Coleman Headley, the mastermind behind the operations.
- Born and raised in Chichawatni, Punjab, Pakistan, Rana attended Cadet College Hasan Abdal, where he befriended Headley. He later faced charges alongside Headley for plotting attacks against a Danish newspaper. During investigations, it was revealed that Rana had travelled to Mumbai and stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace during the attacks.
- Rana maintains that his visit to India was for legitimate purposes related to his immigration consultancy business and claims to be a pacifist who has been misled and framed by Headley.
- As the extradition process moves forward, Indian authorities are preparing to bring him back to face justice for his alleged role in one of the most devastating terrorist attacks in India’s history.
