The US Department of Justice on Thursday said the extradition of Mumbai 26/11 attacks accused Tahawwur Rana is a “critical step toward seeking justice” for the six Americans and other victims who were killed in the “heinous” attacks.
Rana, a 64-year-old Pakistan-born Canadian citizen, was flown to India from the US on a special aircraft on Wednesday and arrived in Delhi Thursday evening. He is accused of conspiring with his childhood friend and Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 2008 attacks.
The US Department of Justice said that after the attacks, which were carried out by 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, Rana allegedly told Headley that the Indians “deserved it.”
“In an intercepted conversation with Headley, Rana allegedly commended the nine LeT terrorists who had been killed committing the attacks, saying that “[t]hey should be given Nishan-e-Haider”-Pakistan’s “highest award for gallantry in battle,” which is reserved for fallen soldiers,” it said in a statement.
While nine terrorists were killed by security forces during the attack, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in 2012.
Tahawwur Rana, David Headley’s Role In 26/11 Mumbai Attacks
Tahawwur Rana is accused of facilitating a fraudulent cover so that David Headley, who was born Daood Gilani, could freely travel to Mumbai to conduct surveillance of potential attack sites for Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Rana, a former military medic who served in Pakistan’s army, emigrated to Canada in 1997, before moving to the US and setting up businesses in Chicago, including a law firm and a slaughterhouse, allegedly agreed to open a Mumbai branch of his immigration business and appoint Headley as the manager of the office, despite Headley’s having no immigration experience.
“On two separate occasions, he allegedly helped Headley prepare and submit visa applications to Indian authorities that contained information Rana knew to be false,” the US Department of Justice said.
He also allegedly supplied, through his unsuspecting business partner, documentation in support of Headley’s attempt to secure formal approval from Indian authorities to open a branch office of Rana’s business.
Over the course of more than two years, Headley – currently serving a 35-year sentence in the US for terrorism-related charges linked to the Mumbai attacks and a planned assault on a Danish newspaper – allegedly repeatedly met with Rana in Chicago and described his surveillance activities on behalf of LeT, LeT’s responses to Headley’s activities, and LeT’s potential plans for attacking Mumbai.
Rana, who was arrested by US police in 2009, has been charged with criminal conspiracy, waging war against the government of India, murder and forgery under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He was extradited to India after the US Supreme Court rejected his bid to remain in the United States, where he was serving a sentence related to another LeT-linked attack.
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