Tahawwur Rana, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks key accused, has been extradited from the United States. He is set to land in India on Thursday (Apr 10) after exhausting all legal options in the US justice system to evade Indian authorities.

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A multi-agency team, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and National Security Guard (NSG), is facilitating his arrival in India after 16 years of the deadly attacks in Mumbai.

According to The Week report citing sources, Rana is expected to arrive in the early hours of Thursday (Apr 10) along with a team of NIA and NSG in a special military plane.

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What was his role in 26/11 attacks?

Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, is accused of playing a role in planning the 2008 attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in Mumbai that claimed 166 lives, including those of police personnel and foreign nationals. 

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He is a known associate of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, who testified against Rana in a US court saying that Rana travelled to India five times between 2007 and 2008 to carry out a review of possible targets in Mumbai.

His final attempt to evade the Indian authorities failed last week after the US Supreme Court denied his emergency application. Earlier in his petition, Rana claimed that he would be tortured and killed in custody in India. 

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On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists carried out coordinated attacks on key locations in Mumbai, including CST railway station, Taj and Oberoi hotels, Chabad House, and Leopold Cafe. The siege, which went on for nearly 60 hours, resulted in 166 deaths, including foreign nationals from the US, UK, and Israel.

(With inputs from agencies)