‘Will soon be dead’: 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana alleges ‘torture’ if extradited to India

In his final attempts to evade Indian authorities, the 26/11 terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana approached the US Supreme Court seeking an emergency stay on his extradition to India. In his petition, Rana claimed that he would be tortured and killed in India.

His extradition was approved by President Donald Trump’s administration during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the US.

The petition stated that he is of Pakistani Muslim origin and a former member of the Pakistani Army, that would make him susceptible to torture in custody and risk his life given his health condition. The accused claimed that he suffers from Parkinson's disease, possible bladder cancer and a 3.5 cm abdominal aortic aneurysm that can rupture any time.

He said that he cannot be sent into a “hornet’s nest.”

“If a stay is not entered, there will be no review at all, and the US courts will lose jurisdiction, and the petitioner will soon be dead,” the petition added.

He alleged that the Indian government is autocratic, citing a Human Rights Watch 2023 World Report, which claims systematic discrimination and stigmatisation of religious minorities, particularly Muslims in the country. 

Tahawwur Rana, a known associate of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, was one of the main conspirators behind the November 26, 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. The attacks happened at several places in the city, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel.

A businessman, immigration entrepreneur and a physician, Rana reportedly has connections with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba and Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan.

Testifying against Rana in a US court, Headley said that Rana travelled to India five times between 2007 and 2008 to carry out a review of possible targets in Mumbai.

While Rana was acquitted on charges of abetting the terror attacks in Mumbai by a US court in 2011, he was convicted for providing support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba and assisting a terror plot in Denmark. Recently, the US Supreme Court denied to review a petition filed by him.

His role in terror attacks in India has been a point of friction between India and the US.

However, during a joint press conference with the Indian prime minister, Trump said, “Today, I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and one of the very evil people of the world (Tahawwur Rana), having to do with the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in India.”