The US Supreme Court has denied an emergency plea filed by 26/11 Mumbai terror attack co-accused Tahawwur Rana seeking to stop his extradition to India. With this legal roadblock cleared, Rana, currently lodged at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles, will be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on a date to be finalized by both countries.
The top court’s denial came after the case was recently listed for “conference,” a procedural step for justices to consider whether to review the petition. Rana had earlier approached Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. after Justice Elena Kagan declined to entertain his request on March 6.
Rana, a Pakistani-origin US citizen and a former Pakistan Army doctor, had claimed in his plea that extradition to India posed a serious risk of torture due to his identity and military background. Citing the UK High Court’s rejection of arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari’s extradition on similar grounds, Rana argued he would be “thrown into a hornet’s nest.”
However, the US Supreme Court’s decision marks the final legal hurdle in his extradition. An NIA official confirmed they are now awaiting confirmation from US authorities on when they can dispatch a team to bring Rana to India for trial.
Rana was first arrested by the FBI in 2009 alongside his childhood friend David Coleman Headley, who is serving a 35-year sentence in the US after admitting his role in scouting targets for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including 24 foreigners. Rana’s immigration company, First World Immigration, had allegedly served as a front for Headley’s reconnaissance operations.
While Indian investigators questioned Headley in 2010, Rana has never before faced direct interrogation by Indian authorities. Once extradited, he will be brought to Mumbai and other cities he visited — including Agra, Hapur, Cochin, and Ahmedabad — shortly before the attacks took place.
The 26/11 attacks were orchestrated by the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), with the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and military officials, according to Indian investigators. LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and three Pakistani military officers were also named as key conspirators.
The NIA hopes Rana’s questioning will yield valuable information about the inner workings of the 26/11 plot and reveal further details on the role played by Pakistani intelligence and military figures in the deadly siege.
Sources By Agencies
