A Pakistani-born Canadian businessman, Tahawwur Rana, arrived in New Delhi on Thursday after being extradited from the United States to face trial over his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks—one of the deadliest terrorist assaults in India’s history.
Rana, 64, a doctor-turned-businessman, is accused of helping to orchestrate the attacks that killed 166 people across multiple sites in Mumbai, including luxury hotels, a Jewish centre, and the city’s main train station. His extradition marks the first such transfer in a terrorism case between the US and India.
“The National Investigation Agency on Thursday successfully secured the extradition… after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring the key conspirator… to justice,” said India’s anti-terror agency, NIA, in a statement. Rana was escorted back to India by Indian security personnel following the US Supreme Court’s rejection of his appeals against extradition.
Rana’s return was hailed by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah as a diplomatic victory for the Modi administration. “It is the responsibility of the Indian government to bring back all those who have abused the land and people of India,” Shah wrote on social media platform X.
India formally requested Rana’s custody in June 2020, and US President Donald Trump confirmed the decision to extradite him during a joint press briefing with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year.
In 2013, Rana was sentenced to 14 years in a US federal prison for supporting Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani militant group blamed by India and the US for the Mumbai attacks. He was also convicted of involvement in an abandoned plot to target a Danish newspaper that had published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Shafqat Ali Khan, sought to distance the country from Rana, saying on Thursday that there were no recent records of his Pakistani-origin documentation. “As far as our record indicates, he did not even apply for renewal… for the last two decades,” Khan told reporters.
Rana’s lawyer has maintained his client’s innocence, describing him as a “good man” who was “sucked into something” beyond his control.
India continues to press Pakistan to act against those responsible for the attacks. While Lashkar-e-Taiba is banned in both countries and listed as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. State Department, Islamabad denies sponsoring any extremist activity.
Rana’s extradition is seen as a significant moment in India’s broader campaign to bring all those involved in the 2008 attacks to justice.
Melissa Enoch
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