US Supreme Court Approves Extradition of 26/11 Mumbai Attack Convict Tahawwur Rana to India

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Washington D.C: The US Supreme Court has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a key convict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, to India, marking a significant diplomatic victory for the country. Rana, a Pakistan-origin Canadian businessman, was convicted in connection with the 2008 attack that claimed 164 lives, including six Americans.

On January 21, 2025, the US Supreme Court rejected Rana’s petition to prevent his extradition, which had been filed in November 2024 after a lower court ruled in favor of his extradition. Rana’s co-conspirator, David Headley, had pleaded guilty and cooperated with authorities against Rana, further cementing his involvement in the terror plot.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, born in Chichawatni, Punjab, Pakistan, is a former military doctor who served in the Pakistan Army. He moved to Canada in 1997, gained citizenship, and later became a businessman in the immigration service sector.

Rana was convicted in 2011 for providing support to the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which was responsible for the 26/11 attack. He was also linked to a plot targeting the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. For his involvement in the Danish plot, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2013.

Rana was arrested again in June 2024 in Los Angeles, after India requested his extradition for his role in the Mumbai attacks. Despite being a declared fugitive in India, Rana had previously attempted to gain bail in the US, which was rejected in 2024 when the court deemed him a “flight risk.”

Rana, a childhood friend of David Coleman Headley, had helped plan the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had earlier ruled that Rana was “extraditable to India,” citing the extradition treaty between the two nations. Rana is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.

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