Tahawwur Rana Extradition: Shortly after the US Supreme Court denied Tahawwur Rana’s legal appeal against extradition to India, a multi-agency team from India travelled to the United States to bring the 26/11 accused to the country, government sources said on Wednesday.
The team is completing the paperwork and fulfilling the formalities and legalities with the US authorities.
“There is a very high possibility that Rana could be extradited to India shortly," sources told.
High-security cells in Delhi’s Tihar and Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison have been asked to be prepared for a high-risk detainee, officials informed.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently obtained court orders seeking the transfer of the case from Mumbai to Delhi. NIA could seek the custodial interrogation of Rana once he lands in India and is produced in court.
Rana, wanted in India for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, was arrested in the US in 2009 for his involvement in terror-related activities, which also included a foiled attempt to attack Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. He was also convicted in the United States for extending material support to the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India had sought the extradition of Rana to face trial for his role in the Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 150 people.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in February this year, President Donald Trump announced Rana’s extradition to India, describing him as “one of the plotters and one of the very evil people of the world".
“Tahawwur Rana will be going back to India, where he will face justice," Trump said at the press conference alongside PM Modi.
The US Supreme Court on Monday denied the review plea seeking an emergency stay on his extradition to India.
Rana had approached chief justice John G Roberts Jr after Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan declined to hear his plea on March 6.
In his first plea, Rana had claimed that he would likely be tortured in India as he was a Muslim of Pakistani origin and also an ex-Pakistani army officer.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement in the Parliament during the Budget Session on April 4 and said that India and the US have been engaged in the case and are working closely for Rana’s swift extradition.
“During the visit of Prime Minister to Washington DC on 13 February 2025, the U.S. Administration conveyed that it had approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana to India. Rana’s application for a stay on this decision is before the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to pronounce on it soon. Both India and the U.S. remain engaged on the case and are working closely to complete the necessary formalities to allow for the swift extradition of Tahawwur Rana to India," the government had said in the Parliament.
Source: News18
