End of the road: 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana flown to India

Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is being brought to India in a special plane after he was extradited following exhaustion of his legal options in the US.

This comes after the US Supreme Court rejected Rana's petition, requesting a stay on his extradition to India. "The application for stay addressed to the Chief Justice and referred to the court is denied," the US Supreme Court order on Monday said.


In February this year, US President Donald Trump met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announced in a joint press conference that Rana would face justice in India.

Rana had earlier told the US court that he was suffering from an abdominal aortic aneurysm at immediate risk of rupture, Parkinson's disease with cognitive decline, and a mass suggestive of bladder cancer. He had said he would not survive long enough to be tried in India. He had also alleged that he would be targeted in India due to national, religious, and cultural animosity.


Rana is an associate of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the key conspirators of the November 26 attacks in Mumbai in 2008. He is a Pakistani-origin businessman, physician, and an immigration entrepreneur. Rana is learnt to have connections with terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

The US jury had acquitted Rana of the charge of providing material support for the attacks, but he was found guilty of two other charges and sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. When his health started failing after the Covid pandemic, he was released from jail. He was later rearrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his alleged role in the 26/11 attacks. He then challenged the extradition plea, but exhausted his legal options.


NIA officials said the agency had been pursuing the legal process through diplomatic channels after his arrest.

An international arrest warrant was issued against Rana and a charge sheet was filed by the NIA. According to NIA, Rana was aware that his childhood friend Headley was involved with LeT and that by assisting Headley and affording him cover for his activities, he was supporting the terrorist organisation and its associates. Rana knew of Headley's meetings, what was discussed and the planning of the attacks, including some of the targets. Headley entered a plea bargain and cannot be extradited to India for the crimes he has been convicted in the US.

In its charge sheet filed before a Delhi court, the NIA has charged Headley, Rana, Hafiz Saaed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Ilyas Kashmiri, Sajid Mir, Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali. As per NIA, the accused allegedly planned and made preparations by scouting important places on behalf of LeT and HuJI, including, and not limited to, the 26/11 sites.

After the attacks, Headley visited India from March 7-17 in 2009, and did a recce of Chabad Houses in Delhi, Pushkar, Goa and Pune. Rana is accused of providing logistic, financial and other assistance to Headley and other co-conspirators.