Pupuji Koul
The consistent and concerted efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his NDA government bore fruits the other day when a US Court gave its judgment and ordered the extradition of the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack to India. Today 10th of April 2025 is really a great day of triumph for Modi’s diplomacy as on this day Tahawwur Rana was finally extradited to India and reached new Delhi. All the options had been exhausted and finally the mastermind of 26/11 attack has been handed to India .Now the terrorist will be tried as per the law of the land and centre government has constituted a special cell of NIA for handling this case. The accused will be produced before the judicial magistrate in Delhi which will order his remand to NIA.The people of Mumbai in particular and the Indians in general demand death sentence for him. While the US Court decision is the big diplomatic win for India, it is a big slap on the face of Pakistan. So in a major win for India, a US appeals court has approved the extradition of the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, David Coleman Headly, and has links to Lashkar-e-Tabia and the ISI, as per a 405 page charge sheet.26/11 Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Rana will be extradited to India. In a big win for India ,a U.S appeals court has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. “The India-US treaty permits Rana’s extradition,” the court said in its ruling on August 15, 2024. In a major setback to Pakistan backed terrorist Tahawwur Rana, who is sought by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that he is extraditable to India under the extradition treaty between the two countries.”
The India-US Extradition Treaty permits Rana’s extradition, ”the court said in its ruling on August 15, 2024. Ruling on an appeal filed by Rana, ,a panel of Judges of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court in the Central District of California’s denial of his habeas corpus petition challenging a magistrate Judge’s certification of his as extraditable to India for his alleged participation in terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. It is after a long gap of 20 years from the terror attack in Mumbai that the mastermind accused is being extradited to India, where he will face the punishment as per Indian laws. Today the dreaded terrorist who conspired the deadly serial terrorist in Mumbai in September 11,2008 has finally been extradited and handed over to India and he reached New Delhi. It is in fact a victory of Modi’s diplomacy. The extradition of the Rana is the result of the constant efforts of the Modi government and his extradition is the big diplomatic win for India. A US court approved the extradition of Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana to India where he is wanted for his role in the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai. Rana was convicted in 2011 of supporting an Islamic militant group blamed for the attack on India’s financial capital Mumbai that killed 166 innocent and unarmed civilians. But he was cleared of the more serious charge of helping plot the attack.
The businessman was arrested after an extradition request by India in 2020. Rana,who denied all the charges against him,had challenged India’s extradition request which was also supported by the US government. But a court on charged Monday consented his extradition.T he court said that Rana had been ,in India with criminal conspiracy ,committing terrorist acts and murder-all of which are extraditable offences as per the treaty between US and India. It however, added that Rana will remain in US custody till the Secretary of state to India takes a final decision on his extradition. More than 160 people were killed in November 2008 when a group of 10 men stormed a train station ,hotels and cafes and a Jewish centre, shooting and throwing bombs. Indian authorities accused Rana, a Pakistani born Canadian of conspiring with his childhood friend David Coleman Headely to assist Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Tabia (LET), which was blamed for the attack. Prosecutors in the case said that in 2006, Rana allowed Headely to open an office of his Chicago based immigration services firm in Mumbai ,which Headley then used as cover to scout sites for the 2008 attack. Rana was also accused of allowing Headley to pose as a representative of his firm in order to gain access to newspaper offices by feigning interest in purchasing advertising space.
Headley, who is serving a 35 year jail term in the US for his role in the attacks, testified against Rana in 2011.Rana’s defense team at the time said he was manipulated and mislead by Headley ,an old friend from their days in a Pakistani military school.In 2011,jurors at the federal court in Chicago convicted Rana of providing support to LeT and for his role in an aborted plot against a Danish newspaper. But he was cleared of charges of direct involvement in the Mumbai attacks. In 2013,he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 2020 ,Rana was released from jail in the US on the compassionate grounds for testing positive for the Covid-19.He was arrested again after the extradition request by India. The US court agreed to extradite Tahawwur Rana to India for 2008 attacks ,marking a pivotal development in the 2008 Mumbai attacks case.Rana, linked with LeT , played a significant role in orchestrating the attacks. After prolonged legal proceedings, the court ruled the evidence aligns with the India-US extradition treaty. Mumbai terror accused Tahawwur Rana approaches US Supreme Court to challenge extradition to India. Rana faces charges for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attack and is known to be associated with Pakistani -Amercian Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the terror incident that hit India’s financial hub in 2008.
Having lost his legal battle in all lower courts,Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin ,has now knocked on the doors of the US Supreme Court against his extradition to India. India has sought Rana’s extradition for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Rana has last reached out to the US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco after losing the legal battle in lower courts and several federal courts. On September 23,the circuit court threw out his petition to give a stay on the decisions of the other courts that approved the move of the Department of State to extradite him to India. On November 13,Rana filed a ”petition for a writ of certiorari ”before the US Supreme Court.In a long battle, this was Rana’s last legal chance not to extradited to India .In his ”petitions for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the United States court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.”In this case, Rana made the same argument that he was tried and acquitted in federal court in the Northern District of Illionis-Chicago on charges relating to the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai. India now seeks to extradite him for trial on charges based on the identical conduct at issue in Chicago case,” it says.The petition says that if the ‘elements’ standard applies, he very likely will be sent to India to be put on trial a second time for the same conduct, with conviction and death sentence ominously on the horizon for him, “In addition, resolution of this issue will have considerable and increasing impact ,as the growing globalization of criminal law enforcement and international cooperation ,which in turn has led to a dramatic rise in extradition, will affect more and more individuals and nations going forward, “it said.In brief now the US Court has approved Rana’s extradition to India who will face legal trial here and it is a big diplomatic win for India. The mastermind of Mumbai bombing attack called 26/11 has finally been handed over to India and it is the diplomatic win for India.
Justice Delivered: India Brings 26/11 Mastermind to knees
