The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai attacks co-conspirator Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking an emergency stay on his extradition to India.
Rana was arrested in the US in 2009 for his involvement in terrorism-related activities, including a foiled plot to attack the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. He was also convicted for providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed more than 170 people, had approached the US Supreme Court, seeking an emergency stay on his previously allowed extradition.
Also Read | Video: UK’s Birmingham needs the Pied Piper as rats run amok in city amid trash piles
In his appeal, Rana said that his survival chances would be insufficient for facing trial in India, citing multiple factors.
His petition specifically mentioned that “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 26/11 terror attacks suspect alleged that his extradition to India would likely lead to his torture, given his status as a Pakistani-origin Muslim individual. Rana’s extradition was greenlit by US President Donald Trump last month.
Also Read | Over 100 chemical weapons sites of Assad regime may still be existing in Syria: Report
During a joint press conference at the White House with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump had announced the decision and suggested additional extraditions would follow. “We are giving a very violent man (Tahawwur Rana) back to India immediately. There are more to follow because we have quite a few requests. We work with India on crime, and we want to make things better for India,” Trump had said.
Who is Tahawwur Rana?
Rana, who holds Canadian citizenship and is of Pakistani origin, was found guilty in the United States for providing support to the LeT, a proscribed organisation.
Rana is alleged to have assisted his associate David Coleman Headley, also known as Daood Gilani, who possessed US citizenship through his American mother and Pakistani father. US authorities apprehended Headley in October 2009. Rana had supported Headley and provided him with false credentials using which the latter travelled to India and scouted potential targets for LeT’s 2008 assault.
Also Read | Senior US official heads to Pakistan with focus on critical minerals deal
Investigators claim that the Pakistani terrorists who carried out the fatal attack used a blueprint that Rana was involved in creating.
Rana is lodged at the metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles and will be handed over to NIA by FBI on a day agreed upon by both sides.