A US court has granted the Indian government’s request for the extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana to India, where he is wanted for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
On June 10, 2020, India filed a complaint seeking the provisional arrest of 62-year-old Rana with a view towards extradition. The Biden Administration had supported and approved the extradition of Rana to India.
“The Court has reviewed and considered all of the documents submitted in support of and in opposition to the Request, and has considered the arguments presented at the hearing,” Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, US Magistrate Judge of the US District Court Central District of California, said in a 48-page court order dated May 16, which was released Wednesday.
“Based on such review and consideration and for the reasons discussed herein, the Court makes the findings set forth below, and CERTIFIES to the Secretary of State of the United States the extraditability of Rana on the charged offences that are the subject of the Request,” the judge wrote.
Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in these attacks.
National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing into his role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in 2008. The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.
During court hearings, US Government attorneys argued that Rana was aware that his childhood friend Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley was involved with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and that by assisting Headley and affording him cover for his activities, he was supporting the terrorist organization and its associates.
Rana knew of Headley’s meetings, what was discussed, and the planning of the attacks, including some of the targets. The US government asserted that Rana was part of the conspiracy and there is probable cause that he committed the substantive crime of commission of a terrorist act.