Tahawwur Rana extradition: How India is preparing to bring back 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused after US Court victory

“Currently, the names of the officers from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who will go to the US to take his custody are being discussed. Also, a discussion is going on to use either a chartered plane of the R&AW or a normal flight,” said a source in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Earlier this month, the Indian authorities had responded to four queries from US officials – about apprehension of torture in police custody, legal aid, security arrangements and facilities in the jail where he will be kept, The Indian Express has learnt.

On November 13 last year, Rana had filed a “petition for a writ of certiorari” — essentially a process to seek review of a lower court order — before the US Supreme Court.

In his plea, Rana argued that he was tried and acquitted in a federal court in the Northern District of Illinois on charges related to the Mumbai attacks. He 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. The US government had argued in court that the petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied.

On January 21, the US Supreme Court said: “Petition DENIED.” The decision came after Rana lost previous battles in multiple federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals.

Late last year, the Indian government started making preparations for Rana to be handed over by the US, with officials — including those from Central investigative agencies and legal departments of both countries — holding a meeting in this regard at the US Embassy in Delhi.

Much of the push took place in the last four years of the Biden administration. Former US NSA Jake Sullivan is said to be behind the concerted efforts to bring the case to a conclusion, as the judicial process continued. This was part of the discussions between NSA Ajit Doval and Sullivan in their last meeting in early January.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Home Affairs received multiple queries — through the Ministry of External Affairs — from US authorities asking for details about security arrangements and facilities in the jail where Rana will be kept.

“The Indian government has responded that Rana would be housed in Tihar Jail, which it described as a central facility following international standards. They also informed that all the cells of Tihar prison are under the surveillance of CCTV cameras and providing best medical facilities — – inside the jail complex and also outside — to all jail inmates,” a source said.

“Referring to his human rights, the Indian government was also asked to respond to possible torture in police custody, and legal aid. They had responded that there are several laws and they all follow the guidelines,” a source said.

The 63-year-old Rana was a childhood friend of David Coleman Headley, a US citizen born to an American mother and a Pakistani father. One of the main conspirators of the 26/11 terror attacks, Headley was arrested in October 2009 by US authorities and sentenced to 35 years.

Rana was arrested in the US soon after. In 2011, he was convicted of providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba and for supporting a plot to attack a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, which printed cartoons of the Prophet in 2005. However, jurors in the US cleared Rana of a more serious charge of providing support for the attacks in Mumbai.

In 2011, the NIA filed a chargesheet against nine persons, including Rana, for plotting and executing the Mumbai attacks. In 2014, a Sessions Court in Delhi issued fresh non-bailable warrants against the nine, who the NIA had listed as absconders.

A former doctor in the Pakistan Army, Rana moved to Canada in the 1990s, where he became a naturalised citizen. He later relocated to the US, where he opened an immigration consultancy, First World Immigration Services, in Chicago.

Rana’s involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks stems from his assistance to Headley, who was acting on behalf of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Headley, who conducted reconnaissance on prominent sites in Mumbai, such as the Taj Mahal Hotel and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, was able to operate under the guise of being an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.