US President Trump clears extradition of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana to India

US President Donald Trump meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Thursday. (PTI)

The US government has approved the extradition of 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused Tahawwur Rana to India, President Donald Trump said at a joint press briefing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi following a bilateral meeting between the two leaders at the White House in Washington DC on Thursday.

The decision comes over three weeks after the US Supreme Court rejected 63-year-old Rana’s review petition against his extradition. Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, is accused of playing a key role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as a close accomplice of David Coleman Headley aka Daood Gilani, a Pakistani-origin U.S. national who had done reconnaissance of the potential targets of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists.

"We have cleared the extradition of one of the plotters of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack to India. We are handing him over to India where he will face the law and brought to justice," President Trump said.

The Supreme Court's rejection of Rana's plea against extradition marked the end of the legal processes in the US courts and an executive order was awaited in this regard.

India had submitted its request seeking Rana's extradition on December 4, 2019. On June 10, 2020, a complaint seeking his provisional arrest was filed. He lost the legal battle against the extradition request in the lower courts and various federal courts, after which he filed a review petition in the U.S. Supreme Court, which was also rejected on January 21 this year.

Rana, along with his childhood friend Headley, is accused of the conspiracy behind the terror attacks between November 26 and 29, 2008.

Rana and Headley first met at a Pakistani military boarding high school. After high school, Rana served as a doctor in the Pakistani Army, but later deserted the force and became a Canadian citizen before moving to Chicago, and opened several businesses, including an immigration law centre with offices in Chicago, New York, and Toronto.

Headley is accused of travelling to Pakistan and meeting LeT members, who instructed him to take general videos of Mumbai, including of the Taj Mahal hotel. During his stays in Mumbai, Rana helped him at various stages. Headley would also travel to Pakistan for handing over the video recordings to his handlers and get further instructions.

Indian investigators have alleged that before and after the Mumbai attacks, the two remained in constant touch and Rana was well aware of Headley’s close involvement.