US Supreme Court rejects terrorist Tahawwur Rana's plea, to be extradited to India

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court has ordered the extradition of Pakistani-Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana (63), to India. Rana, suspected of having links with Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Coleman Headley was the master brain behind the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008.

The court rejected Rana's plea not to extradite him to India. The US government had earlier asked the court to reject Rana's petition. Rana, now 63, is lodged in a Los Angeles jail. The lower court had earlier ordered Rana's extradition to India. Rana approached the Supreme Court against this. India had handed over evidence that proved Rana guilty. 166 people were killed in the terrorist attack on November 26, 2008. In 2013, a Chicago court sentenced Rana to 14 years in prison after he was found guilty in a case of planning a terrorist attack in Denmark and in a case of providing support to Lashkar terrorists.

Earlier, the US court did not convict Rana in the Mumbai case as his role in the attack was not proven. He was released from prison after being diagnosed with COVID-19 in June 2020 and was arrested again by the US at the request of India.