US court allows extradition of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India

Washington: A US court has approved the extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana to India, where he is being sought for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in the attacks, in which 10 Pakistani terrorists attacked and killed more than 160 people, including six Americans, at iconic and important locations in Mumbai. cast and killed. , The US court agreed to the Indian request through the US government for his extradition.

“The court has reviewed all documents presented in support and opposition to the request and has considered the arguments presented at the hearing,” said US Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian of the US District Court of California. The 48-page court order dated May 16, which was released on Wednesday.

“Based on such review and consideration and for the reasons discussed herein, the Court makes the findings set forth below and certifies the extradition of Rana to the Secretary of State for the United States on the offenses charged which are the subject of the request, the judge wrote in the order.

Tahawwur Rana has been accused by the Indian government of planning and executing the LeT terrorist attacks in Mumbai, along with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley, also known as “Dawood Geelani”, and others.

According to the judge, India has charged Rana with the following offenses and has issued an arrest warrant, which the US is now pursuing: (a) conspiracy to wage war, murder, forgery for the purpose of fraud and forgery of documents or to use an electronic record as genuine, and to commit a terrorist act (b) waging war, (d) murder, (e) committing a terrorist act and (f) conspiring to commit a terrorist act.

Rana was convicted in Chicago in 2011 of providing material support to the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which planned the Mumbai terror attack, and the never-ending plot to attack a Danish newspaper. who printed cartoons to support Prophet Muhammad in 2005.

He was accused of allowing David Coleman Headley to open a branch of his Chicago-based immigration law business in Mumbai as a cover story and to travel as a representative of the company in Denmark.

On the other hand, Rana’s lawyer opposed the extradition. An extradition treaty is in effect between India and the United States. The judge determined that Tahawwur Rana’s extradition falls under treaty jurisdiction.

The judge ruled that there was sufficient competent evidence to establish reasonable cause that Rana was an accused person in India. The Court concluded that Rana was extraditable for the offenses for which the extradition request was made and for which the United States was proceeding.

“It is therefore ordered that Tahawwur Hussain Rana be committed to the custody of the Marshal of the United States pending a final decision on extradition and surrender by the Secretary of State for India for trial of the offenses for which extradition was granted Title 18, United States Code, Section 3186 and Treaty,” the judge ruled.

Mumbai came to a standstill on November 26, 2008, when 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, who had entered the city by sea route from Pakistan, carried out a series of coordinated shootings and bombings, killing over 300. More were injured and lives were lost. 166 people in the financial capital of India.

The attacks took place at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station, Cama Hospital, Nariman House business and residential complex, Leopold Cafe, Taj Hotel and Tower and Oberoi-Trident Hotel.