Extradition case of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana to continue till April 22

PTI, Dec 19, 2020, 3:33 PM IST

Washington DC: The case of extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, to India will continue till April 22, a federal US judge has determined.

Rana, 59, has been declared a fugitive by India, where he is facing multiple criminal charges for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed.

He was rearrested on June 10 in Los Angeles on an extradition request by India.

“The Extradition Hearing, in this case, is continued to April 22, 2021, at 1:30 p.m,” Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, the US District Court of Los Angeles, said in his order dated December 17.

Rana is a childhood friend of David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-American LeT terrorist who was involved in plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Headley, 60, was made an approver in the case and is currently serving a 35-year prison term in the US for his role in the attack.

Judge Chooljian said Rana will file an opposition to the request for extradition by not later than February 1.

The US government, which is supporting the extradition of Rana to India, has time till March 22 to file its reply motion.

Both the parties have agreed that their motion either in support or opposition to the extradition request by India would not be of more than 50 pages. The judge on December 10 had denied Rana his bail application asserting that he is a flight risk.

Judge Chooljian, in his order on December 10, said that Rana ”presented a robust bail package” and offered conditions that significantly mitigate the risk of flight. But the ”Court cannot find that he has negated the risk of flight” and as such granted the request of the US government to the continued detention of Rana.

Meanwhile, the US government in the court has supported India’s request that the documents submitted by it in support of extradition of Rana be not made public. The extradition documents presented by India apparently include information about Rana’s involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attack that would be shared with him.