US Arrests 26/11 Key Accused Tahawwur Rana, Faces Extradition To India

Washington: A key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, has been arrested by US authorities from Los Angeles. He was rearrested on June 10 on an extradition request by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which 166 people were killed, according to US prosecutors.

Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, 59, was recently released from jail on compassionate grounds after he told a US court that he has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an NDTV report.

Reportedly, Assistant US Attorney John J Lulejian told the court that the Indian government, as per the bilateral Extradition Treaty signed in 1997, has requested the arrest and detention of Tahawwur Rana with a view towards his extradition. He made an initial court appearance on June 11.

On Friday, US District Judge Jacqueline Chooljian scheduled his bond hearing for June 30 in the US District Court. His attorney has been asked to submit his plea by June 22 and the US government’s response is due by June 26.

An arrest warrant was issued against Tahawwur Rana in India by a special court of the National Investigation Agency in August 2018. Rana was first arrested in Chicago in October 2009. Thereafter he went to trial in the US, where his childhood friend David Coleman Headley testified for the prosecution.

According to the prosecutors, between 2006 and November 2008, Tahawwur Rana conspired to help Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harakat ul-Jihad-e-Islami, both US-designated terrorist organisations, to plan and carry out the Mumbai attacks.