A Canadian businessman accused of playing a role in orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks, one of India’s deadliest, arrived in New Delhi on Thursday after the United States extradited him in a landmark transfer for a terrorism case.
Tahawwur Rana, 64, a doctor who later became a businessman, was extradited in connection with the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that resulted in the deaths of over 160 people.
“The National Investigation Agency on Thursday successfully secured the extradition…after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring the key conspirator…to justice,” stated the NIA, India’s anti-terrorism agency.
He was escorted back to India by Indian security agencies following the rejection of his petitions challenging the extradition by the US Supreme Court.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah hailed Rana’s extradition on Wednesday as a “great success” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government’s diplomatic efforts.
“It is the responsibility of the Indian government to bring back all those who have abused the land and people of India,” he posted on X.
Trump Announces Transfer
India formally requested Rana’s custody in June 2020, and President Donald Trump announced Rana’s transfer in February of this year during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in Washington.
Rana was sentenced to 14 years in prison in the US in 2013 for providing material support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist organization.
“As far as our record indicates, he (Rana) did not even apply for renewal for his Pakistani-origin documents for the last two decades,” Shafqat Ali Khan, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Office, said during a media briefing on Thursday.
Rana’s lawyer has previously stated that Rana was a “good man and got sucked into something.”
Over three days in November 2008, ten heavily armed attackers targeted major landmarks across Mumbai, including two luxury hotels, a Jewish community center, and the main railway station, killing 166 people.
