Tahawwur Hussain Rana's Extradition May Unravel Pakistani State Actors' Role In 26/11 Mumbai Attacks

New Delhi: The extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana — a 64-year-old Canadian national of Pakistani origin — to India may allow agencies to further probe into the ghastly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and the role of Pakistani state actors in the carnage that left 166 dead, including US, British and Israeli nationals, in 2008.

The US Supreme Court has turned down a review petition by terror accused Rana, dismissing his last legal challenge against his extradition to India to face the law in India.

Rana filed a "petition for a writ of certiorari" before the US Supreme Court on November 13 to review a lower court ruling, which was denied.

"We are looking forward to the early extradition of Rana, who could shed light on some new aspects of 26/11, if any," an official who was part of the probe into the 26/11 attacks said.

Currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles, Rana is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Headley obtained consent from Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and elsewhere, to open a First World office in Mumbai as a cover for his activities.

"Rana directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley's cover story of opening a First World office in Mumbai and advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India, according to Headley's testimony, as well as emails and other documents that corroborated his account," the US government said.

"Rana's extradition will help in substantiating the role of Pakistan's state actors in carrying out the attack," another official said.

Pakistani intelligence agency ISI and the army had conspired and executed India's worst terror attack in Mumbai by sending 10 terrorists to the city on November 26, 2008.

The group targeted multiple iconic locations in Mumbai, including Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, Leopold Cafe, Chabad House and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States arrested Rana in Chicago a year after the attacks in October 2009 for arranging material support for terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Copenhagen.

Rana was convicted for arranging logistics for the beheading of employees of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, among other crimes.

India has been trying to extradite Rana for many years because of his association with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Headley and his active involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

It is alleged that Rana was aware of Headley's terror links and even helped in reconnaissance of targets in Mumbai and planning the attacks on the National Defence College (NDC) in New Delhi and Chabad House in Mumbai.

This was Rana's last legal chance to avoid extradition to India. Earlier, he lost legal battles in several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco.

In his petition, Rana argued that he was tried and acquitted by the federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) on charges relating to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks but the US prosecutors did not agree.

"The government does not concede that all of the conduct on which India seeks extradition was covered by the government's prosecution in this case. For example, India's forgery charges are based in part on conduct that was not charged in the United States: petitioner's use of false information in an application to formally open a branch office of the Immigration Law Centre submitted to the Reserve Bank of India," US solicitor general had said.

"It is not clear that the jury's verdict in this case — which involves conspiracy charges and was somewhat difficult to parse — means that he has been 'convicted or acquitted' on all of the specific conduct that India has charged," the solicitor general had said. (with PTI inputs)