NEW DELHI (Diya TV) — In a significant diplomatic and legal victory for India, Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman accused of involvement in the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is expected to be extradited from the United States on Wednesday, April 9, following a years-long legal battle.
According to Indian government sources, a joint team from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) is currently in the United States to oversee Rana’s transfer. Due to serious security concerns, he will be brought to India aboard a chartered private jet. Upon arrival, he will be placed under high-security custody, with preparations underway at both Delhi’s Tihar Jail and a secure facility in Mumbai where he could face trial soon.
The extradition comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Rana’s final plea to halt the process. Justice Elena Kagan had earlier denied his “Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus,” and on April 7, the full court reaffirmed that denial, clearing the way for his transfer to India.
Rana was arrested in the United States in 2020 on an extradition request from India. He is accused of aiding and abetting the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) by providing logistical support to his childhood friend and 26/11 conspirator David Coleman Headley. Headley, a Pakistani-American, conducted surveillance of Mumbai attack targets and entered a plea bargain with U.S. authorities, shielding him from extradition to India.
During extradition hearings, U.S. federal prosecutors argued that Rana knowingly assisted Headley and was aware of his connections to LeT. They presented evidence suggesting that Rana gave cover to Headley through his Chicago-based immigration business, enabling him to travel to India multiple times under pretenses.
A panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the decision of a lower court in California, denying Rana’s habeas corpus petition and ruling that there was “probable cause” he had committed a terrorist act. The court’s ruling noted that Rana was aware of the planning behind the attacks and had provided material support to a designated terrorist organization.
India’s NIA has charged Rana along with other key figures linked to the 26/11 plot, including Headley, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Ilyas Kashmiri, Sajid Mir, and two Pakistan Army officers identified as Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali. The NIA charge sheet alleges that these individuals, in coordination with LeT and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), conducted surveillance and preparations for the attacks on high-value targets in Mumbai.
The 26/11 attacks, carried out over four days in November 2008, left more than 160 people dead and hundreds injured. The attack, which targeted locations including the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, CST Railway Station, and Chabad House, was one of the deadliest terrorist events in Indian history.
Rana’s extradition is being coordinated by India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, signaling the high-level importance New Delhi has placed on this case.
This development represents not only a triumph for India’s counterterrorism efforts but also a major diplomatic setback for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which has long been accused of backing the conspirators behind the 26/11 attacks. Rana’s imminent arrival in India marks a critical moment in the pursuit of justice for the victims of Mumbai’s darkest days.
