Tahawwur Rana, who was involved in planning the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is expected to land in India today around 12 noon. He is coming on a special flight from the United States, accompanied by a multi-agency Indian team that left the US on Wednesday.

He will most likely be kept in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. High-security cells in both Tihar Jail and Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail have been prepared for him, as he is considered a high-risk prisoner.

The Indian team flew to the US after the country’s Supreme Court rejected Rana’s request to stop his extradition.

Recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) got court permission to move his case from Mumbai to Delhi. Once Rana arrives, the NIA is expected to ask the court for permission to question him in custody. He will face trial in India for his role in the 26/11 attacks.

Earlier, Rana had asked the US Supreme Court for an emergency stay on his extradition. However, the court rejected his plea, which means he can now be sent to India to face trial.

Why did Rana appeal?

Rana had argued that if he were sent to India, his chances of survival would be very low. He listed several reasons in his petition, including concerns about his safety. His application mentioned, "If a stay is not entered, there will be no review at all, and the US courts will lose jurisdiction, and the petitioner will soon be dead."

Rana also claimed that he might be tortured in India because he is a Pakistani-origin Muslim. However, the US government approved his extradition last month, and now, with the Supreme Court rejecting his request, India will soon have him in its custody.

Trump announced the extradition decision

During a joint press conference at the White House with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Trump said, "We are giving a very violent man (Tahawwur Rana) back to India immediately. There are more to follow because we have quite a few requests. We work with India on crime, and we want to make things better for India."

Trump’s statement indicated that the US is actively working with India on criminal matters and that more extraditions could follow.

Who is Tahawwur Rana?

Tahawwur Rana is a 64-year-old Pakistani-born Canadian national. He is known to be a close associate of David Coleman Headley (also known as Daood Gilani), one of the key conspirators in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Rana was born in Chichawatni, a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province. He studied medicine in Pakistan and worked in the medical corps of the Pakistan Army. After leaving the army in the late 1990s, he moved to Canada, where he became a citizen and started an immigration business called First World Immigration Services. Later, he shifted to the United States and set up an office in Chicago.

How did Rana know Headley?

Rana and Headley have known each other since childhood. Headley was born in the US to a Pakistani father and an American mother. After his birth, his family moved to Pakistan, where he attended school in Hasan Abdal, in the Attock district. It was there that he and Rana became friends.

Rana’s Role in the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks

On November 11, 2009, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a case against Headley, Rana, and others. The charges included:

  • Conspiracy to wage war against India

  • Support for terrorist activities under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

  • Violation of the SAARC anti-terrorism convention

Rana and Headley were accused of working with members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HUJI)—terrorist organizations based in Pakistan—to plan attacks in New Delhi and other parts of India.

The 2008 Mumbai attacks claimed the lives of 166 people, including six Americans.

In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist from the 26/11 attacks who was caught alive, was hanged in Yerawada Jail in Pune.

Officials say that Tahawwur Rana played a big part in helping David Headley carry out the attacks. Rana helped Headley get a visa for India and set up a fake office called "Immigrant Law Centre" in Mumbai, which was just a front to hide their real intentions.

Rana is believed to have known about Headley's links to terrorist groups and even helped him gather information on possible targets, including Chabad House in Mumbai and the National Defence College in New Delhi.

Rana also visited several Indian cities — including Hapur, Delhi, Agra, Kochi, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai — with his wife Samraz Rana Akhtar, between November 13 and 21, 2008, just days before the attacks. Part of the plan was to target Chabad Houses in multiple cities.

In June 2006, Headley met Rana in the US, where they discussed their plans for the attacks.

Rana also kept in touch with Major Iqbal, another person accused of helping plan the 26/11 attacks.

According to investigators, Rana and Headley spoke many times over the phone during Headley’s visits to India. For example:

  • 32 calls during his first visit

  • 23 calls during his second visit

  • 40 calls during the third

  • 37 calls during the fifth

  • 33 calls during the sixth

  • and 66 calls during the eighth visit

This frequent contact shows that Rana was deeply involved in the planning and coordination of the Mumbai terror attacks.

 

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