26/11 Attack Accused Tahawwur Rana's Extradition Request Approved By US Court
A United States court has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistan-origin Canadian businessman, to India where he is sought for his involvement in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.
Based on an extradition request by India, Rana had been arrested in the US for his role in the attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists had laid a more than 60-hour long siege in the financial capital of India, in which over 160 people including six American tourists were killed. The terrorists had laid siege to some of the most iconic and vital locations across Mumbai.
The US court gave their consent to the request put forward by India, through the US Government for the extradition of Tahawwur Rana. Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, US Magistrate Judge of the US District Court of California, in a 48-page court order dated May 16, which was released on Wednesday, said, “The Court has reviewed and considered all of the documents submitted in support of and in opposition to the Request and has considered the arguments presented at the hearing.”
“Based on such review and consideration and for the reasons discussed herein, the Court makes the findings set forth below and certifies to the Secretary of State of the United States the extraditability of Rana on the charged offenses that are the subject of the request,” the judge’s order noted.
The Indian government has accused Tahawwur Rana of participating in the planning and execution of the Lashkar terrorist attacks in Mumbai by teaming up with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley, also known as “Daood Gilani”, and others.
The judge noted that Rana has been accused by India of the following offences and issued an arrest warrant, on which, now, the US is also proceeding: (a) conspiracy to wage war, to commit murder, to commit forgery for the purpose of cheating, to use as genuine a forged document or electronic record, and to commit a terrorist act (b) waging war, (d) murder, (e) committing a terrorist act and (f) conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.
It may be noted that Rana had been arrested in Chicago in 2011 for providing material support to the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was behind the terror attacks in Mumbai and for supporting a never-carried-out plot to attack a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in 2005.
He was also accused of allowing David Coleman Headley to open a branch of his Chicago-based immigration law business in Mumabi as a cover story and travel as a representative of the company in Denmark.
Meanwhile, Rana’s lawyer contested the extradition in the court. India and the United States have an extradition agreement in effect. The judge also noted that Rana’s extradition was within the jurisdiction of the treaty.
The judge further ruled that there was sufficient competent evidence to establish reasonable cause that Rana is the person accused in India. The court concluded that Rana is extraditable for the offences for which extradition has been requested by India and on which the United States is procceding.
The judge ruled, “It is therefore ordered that Tahawwur Hussain Rana be and remain committed to the custody of the United States Marshal pending a final decision on extradition and surrender by the Secretary of State to India for trial of the offences as to which extradition has been granted pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, section 3186 and the Treaty.”
It may be noted that as many as 10 LeT terrorists had entered Mumbai through the sea route from Pakistan and carried out a series of shootings, bringing the city to its heels on November 26, 2008. As many as 166 people were killed and over 300 were injured in the attacks that took place at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station, Cama Hospital, Nariman House business and residential complex, Leopold Café, Taj Hotel and Tower and Oberoi-Trident Hotel.
