The extradition of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks accused Tahawwur Rana, announced by US President Donald Trump during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country earlier this week, is likely to be delayed, sources have told NDTV.
The sources said that after the US Supreme Court rejected Rana’s review petition, paving the way for his extradition, he has filed a final appeal on humanitarian grounds which may push back his arrival in India by a few weeks.
Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, had earlier worked as a doctor for the Pakistan army and a federal jury had convicted him in 2011 of providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terrorist organisation behind the 2008 attacks. Several places in Mumbai, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel, were attacked on November 26, 2008, and 166 people were killed, including 20 personnel from the police and the security forces, and 26 foreigners.
During a joint press conference with PM Modi on Thursday, US President Donald Trump had said, “Today, I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and one of the very evil people of the world (Tahawwur Rana), having to do with the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in India. He is going back to India to face justice… We are giving a very violent man, it seems to me.”
Trump had also announced that India and the US will work together like “never before” to confront the threat of “radical Islamic terror” across the world.
On Saturday, sources told NDTV that Rana has filed a final appeal on humanitarian grounds in a US appeals forum and this could delay the extradition by a few weeks. Experts said that this is a legal matter and will not affect the strong diplomatic ties between India and the US.
Rana’s Role
Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks, had testified against Rana. Headley had revealed during his interrogation in the United States that he had travelled to India five times between 2007 and 2008 and conducted a recce of possible targets in Mumbai for the attacks.
Headley had said he had visited India using a five-year visa that Rana had helped him obtain and that his co-conspirator had also aided him in opening an immigration company to hide his identity.
In 2011, Rana was acquitted by a US court on charges of abetting the Mumbai terror attacks but was convicted of providing material support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and helping a terror plot in Denmark.