New Delhi: Time has finally run out for Tahawwur Rana, a key conspirator in 26/11 Mumbai terror strike of 2008 that claimed 166 innocent lives, including that of 24 foreigners. The United States will hand him over to India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) soon.
Rana, a former Pakistan Army officer, is closely associated with US national David Coleman Headley who is now serving a 35-year sentence in the US for his role in the attack. Headley had reconnaitered the targets in Mumbai before the attack between November 26 and November 28, 2008.
The NIA believes that Rana also carried out reconnaissance, as he was visiting India with his family days before the attack. The NIA has not had access to Rana till now as he sought and obtained protection from courts in the US. However, his plea against extradition was finally turned down by the US Supreme Court on January 21 this year.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit that country after that, US president Donald Trump had assured him that Rana will be handed over to the NIA on a date fixed by both countries. Once in India, Rana will be taken to Mumbai and other locations in the country, to piece together the exact role of the Pakistan Army and ISI in the whole affair.
While the Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack, the Pakistan government got away by claiming that ‘non-state actors’ were involved. Rana’s statements before the NIA will help link the Pakistani establishment directly to the attack.
Rana, who is now at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles, had appealed against extradition, by claiming that he would be tortured in India as he is a former Pakistan Army officer. He pleaded that sending him to India would be like sending somebody into a hornet’s nest. His prayers were turned down though.
