NIA gets the 26/11 attacks planner; eyes on justice

Tahawwur Rana formally arrested after extradition from the US

Tahawwur Hussain Rana with NIA officials upon his arrival at the IGI Airport, in New Delhi. Pic: PTI

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday "formally arrested" Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the key accused in the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, immediately after he landed at the Delhi airport following his extradition from the United States, an official statement said.

Rana, 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistan origin, was escorted to Delhi by teams of NIA and National Security Guard (NSG), comprising senior officials, on a special plane from Los Angeles, the agency said.

The NIA investigation team at the airport arrested Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin living primarily in Chicago (US), soon after he emerged from the airplane, after completing all the necessary legal formalities, it said.

The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives.

"With the active assistance of USDoJ, the US Sky Marshal, NIA worked closely with other Indian intelligence agencies, NSG through the entire extradition process, which also saw India's Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs coordinating with the other relevant authorities in the United States to take the matter to its successful conclusion," the statement read.

Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and special public prosecutor Narender Mann, who are representing the NIA, reached the Patiala House court premises shortly after news that he had landed in Delhi. Police officials asked mediapersons to leave and said they were ensuring the court premises were fully vacant.

The lawyers, however, refused to comment.

Efforts of years

The agency secured Rana's extradition following years of sustained and concerted efforts and after the terror mastermind's last-ditch efforts to get a stay on his extradition from the US failed.

With the coordinated efforts of India's Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs, along with the relevant authorities in the United States, the NIA said it worked closely with other Indian intelligence agencies through the entire extradition process, which marked a major step in India's efforts to bring individuals involved in terrorism to justice, irrespective of which part of the world they had fled to.

Rana was being held in judicial custody in the US pursuant to proceedings initiated by the NIA under the India-US Extradition Treaty.

Headley’s helper

He is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the devastating terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

Rana had served in the Pakistan Army medical corps before emigrating to Canada in late 1990s and started his immigration consultancy firm. He later moved to the US and set up an office in Chicago.

Through his firm, Rana gave cover to Headley to carry out reconnaissance mission in Mumbai so that the terrorists could launch the attacks.

Rana visited Hapur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kochi in Kerala, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Mumbai in Maharashtra with his wife Samraz Rana Akhtar between November 13 and November 21, 2008.

A total of 166 people were killed and more than 238 injured in the deadly attacks.

Critical step toward seeking justice: US

New York: The extradition of Mumbai terror attacks accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana is a “critical step toward seeking justice” for the victims of the heinous attacks, the US said on Thursday.

The United States on Wednesday extradited Rana, a Canadian citizen and a native of Pakistan, to stand trial in India on 10 criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, a Justice Department spokesperson said.

“Rana's extradition is a critical step toward seeking justice for the six Americans and scores of other victims who were killed in the heinous attacks,” the spokesperson for the US Department of Justice said in a statement to PTI.

Nothing to do with 'Canadian national': Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said that it has nothing to do with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana, asserting that he is a Canadian national and has not renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades.

"He is a Canadian national and as per our record he has not renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades," Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said while responding to a question during his weekly press briefing here.

Though the spokesperson stopped short of providing details of "documents", such documents often include a national identity card for overseas Pakistanis and a passport.