US Top Court clears extradition of Tahawwur Rana to india

The US Supreme Court has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, convicted in connection with the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to India.

Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, is sought by Indian authorities for his alleged role in the attacks that targeted multiple locations in Mumbai.

Rana, 63, has been held in a Los Angeles prison. The FBI arrested Rana in Chicago in 2009. He is linked to Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, also known as "Daood Gilani," a key figure in the attacks, and is accused of aiding him and others in Pakistan to support the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in carrying out the attack. Headley became an approver in the case and is serving a 35-year prison sentence in the US for his involvement in the attack.

Weeks after challenging his extradition in the US Supreme Court, Tahawwur Rana’s appeal has been dismissed, clearing the way for his extradition to India. In his plea, Rana argued that he was tried and acquitted in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) on charges related to the Mumbai attacks. He also stated that he could be sent to India for a second trial on the same charges, facing the possibility of a conviction and death sentence.

Rana had earlier approached the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco after losing legal battles in lower and federal courts. On December 16, US Solicitor General Elizabeth B Prelogar urged the Supreme Court to reject Rana’s petition. His lawyer, Joshua L. Dratel, responded on December 23, opposing the government’s position and requesting the Supreme Court to hear the case. The Court declined the plea.

The 2008 terror attacks shook Mumbai. At least 166 people were killed in the attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a banned outfit.

Ajmal Kasab, the sole attacker who was caught alive, was the only convict executed in the case. Two more masterminds are yet to be brought to justice, Rana being one of them. Another is Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an Indian operative who worked for the Lashkar terror group. He was arrested in 2012 after being identified by Kasab and is currently imprisoned in Mumbai.