Mumbai terror attacks: In a latest development to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, A US court has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian businessman of Pakistani descent, to India where he is wanted for his alleged role in the deadly incident.
In response to an extradition request from India, Rana was detained in the US for his involvement in the attacks, in which 10 Pakistani terrorists besieged Mumbai for more than 60 hours, killing more than 160 people, including six Americans.
The US court consented to the Indian request, through the US government for Rana's extradition. "The Court has reviewed and considered all of the documents submitted in support of and in opposition to the request and has considered the arguments presented at the hearing," US Magistrate Judge of the US District Court of California, Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, said in a 48-page court order dated May 16, which was released on Wednesday.
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What did the US court say?
"Based on such review and consideration and for the reasons discussed herein, the Court makes the findings set forth below and certifies to the Secretary of State of the United States the extraditability of Rana on the charged offenses that are the subject of the Request," the Judge wrote in the order. Tahawwur Rana has been accused by the Indian government of participating in the planning and execution of the Lashkar terrorist attacks in Mumbai by collaborating with his childhood buddy David Coleman Headley, also known as "Daood Gilani," and others.
According to the judge, India has accused Rana of the following offences and issued an arrest warrant:
- Conspiracy to wage war, to commit murder, to commit forgery for the purpose of cheating, to use as genuine a forged document or electronic record, and to commit a terrorist act
- Waging war
- Murder
- Committing a terrorist act
- Conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. Rana was convicted in Chicago in 2011 of providing material support to the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which planned the Mumbai terror attack and for supporting a never-carried-out plot to attack a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in 2005.
Rana was convicted in Chicago in 2011
According to reports, Rana was convicted in Chicago in 2011 of providing material support to the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which planned the Mumbai terror attack and for supporting a never-carried-out plot to attack a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in 2005.
He was accused of allowing David Coleman Headley to open a branch of his Chicago-based immigration law business in Mumbai as a cover story and travel as a representative of the company in Denmark. On the other hand, the extradition was contested by Rana's lawyer. India and the United States have an extradition agreement in effect.
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Rana's extradition under treaty's jurisdiction
The judge determined that Rana's extradition takes place under the treaty's jurisdiction. The judge ruled that there is sufficient competent evidence to establish reasonable cause that Rana is the person accused in India. The Court concluded that Rana is extraditable for the offenses for which extradition has been requested and on which the United States is proceeding.
About the deadly incident
It is pertinent to mention here that On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan arrived by sea route and opened fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others during the 60-hour siege in Mumbai.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Hotel, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital and the Nariman House Jewish community centre, now renamed Nariman Light House, were some of the places targeted by terrorists.
At least, nine terrorists were later killed by the security forces, including the NSG, the country’s elite commando force. Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive. He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.
(With ANI inputs)
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