Working closely with US to complete Tahawwur Rana extradition formalities: India
Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the Mumbai terror attacks, has sought to renew his application in the court of Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr
NEW DELHI: India is working closely with US authorities to complete formalities for extraditing Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the external affairs ministry said on Friday after the US Supreme Court rejected his plea for an emergency stay of his extradition.
The US Supreme Court denied an earlier petition by Rana against his extradition on January 21, paving the way for him to be sent to India, where he is wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his role in planning the terror attacks on Mumbai by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that killed 166 people.
“You would have seen President Trump’s comments regarding the extradition of Rana. The joint statement, which was adopted during the visit of [Prime Minister Modi to the US in February], also reflects this sentiment,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing.
“We are working closely with the US government to complete the necessary formalities to allow for his extradition to India. There are certain legalities in the US for which I cannot answer, but those have to be taken care of,” he said. “But our understanding is that...his extradition should happen.”
People familiar with the matter said on Friday that the US Supreme Court has rejected Tahawwur Rana’s plea for an emergency stay on his extradition. Following the latest denial of his plea by justice Elena Kagan, the Pakistani-Canadian doctor has sought to renew his application in the court of Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr, they said.
In his plea filed before justice Kagan, Rana claimed that he could face torture in India because he is a Muslim of Pakistani origin and a former Pakistan Army officer. He cited a recent UK high court decision rejecting arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari’s extradition to India to buttress his plea.
Indian officials have described the move as futile, saying it will only marginally delay Rana’s surrender to an NIA team till the end of March.
Rana, a former doctor in the Pakistan Army, moved to Canada in 1997 and established an immigration consultancy. After becoming a Canadian citizen in 2001, he moved to Chicago to expand his consultancy. He is a childhood friend of David Headley, a US citizen of Pakistani-origin and one of the main conspirators of the Mumbai attacks. Headley was involved in carrying out a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s consultancy.
Rana was detained in the US less than a year after the Mumbai attacks and given a 14-year prison term for conspiracy to provide support to a terror plot in Denmark and for giving material support to the LeT. Headley was arrested in the US in October 2009 and handed down a 35-year prison term.
