Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana has recently filed a writ to challenge a recent US court order that approved his extradition to India.
Rana is facing trial for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Last month, the US District Court Central District of California granted India’s request for Rana’s extradition. However, Rana, (62), through his attorney, has challenged the extradition, arguing that it would violate the United States-India extradition treaty on two grounds.
Furthermore, Rana’s attorney contends that his extradition would be prohibited under Article 6(1) of the treaty, as he has already been tried and acquitted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the same conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him.
India had filed a complaint for Rana’s provisional arrest on June 10, 2020, seeking his extradition. The Biden administration supported and approved Rana’s extradition to India.
In a 48-page court order dated May 16, Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, US Magistrate Judge of the US District Court Central District of California, stated that she reviewed all the documents submitted in support of and in opposition to the extradition request.
During the court hearings, US government attorneys argued that Rana was aware of his childhood friend, Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley’s involvement with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
They claimed that Rana supported the terrorist organization and its associates by assisting Headley and providing him with cover for his activities. The government asserted that Rana was a part of the conspiracy and that there is probable cause to believe he committed an act of terrorism.
Rana’s attorney on the other hand opposed the extradition.
Currently, Rana is detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in these attacks.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating Rana’s involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in 2008. The NIA expressed readiness to initiate proceedings to bring Rana to India through diplomatic channels.
The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, perpetrated by 10 Pakistani terrorists affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, resulted in the deaths of 166 people, including 6 Americans.
The attacks involved a more than 60-hour siege during which the terrorists targeted and killed people at iconic and strategic locations in Mumbai.
