Tahawwur Rana to be extradited to India: High-level security arrangements in place

NEW DELHI: Tahawwur Rana, a major accused involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is being extradited to India from the U.S after using up all legal remedies.

A multi-agency Indian delegation is in the U.S to finalise the last legal and diplomatic formalities with the Americans, top sources said.

Rana, who is on a special plane heading to India, is due to arrive in Delhi on Thursday afternoon.

He was previously detained at a Los Angeles detention centre.

His return is a turning point in the probe into the 2008 terror attacks that rocked Mumbai and killed 166 people, including some foreign nationals.

Before Rana’s arrival, Union Home minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs to discuss and fortify the security protocol around his extradition.

Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is reported to have close connections with David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-American terrorist who had played a pivotal reconnaissance role in the planning of the 26/11 attacks. Interrogation of Rana, investigators are confident, will reveal key information about the network that conducted the attacks and possibly affirm the role of Pakistani state actors.

Sources indicate that Rana may also give useful insights regarding his travels in various Indian cities prior to the attacks. He is likely to be arrested on arrival and taken into the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after due process of law.

The Mumbai attacks, which commenced in the evening of November 26, 2008, were perpetrated by 10 heavily armed Pakistani terrorists who came ashore and opened a three-day siege across several iconic sites in the city. Targets of theirs included the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident, Leopold Café, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, and the Jewish community centre Chabad House.