New Delhi, Apr 10: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday “formally arrested” Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the key accused in the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, immediately after he landed at the Delhi airport following his extradition from the United States, according to an official statement.
Rana was escorted to Delhi by teams of NIA and National Security Guard (NSG), comprising senior officials, on a special plane from Los Angeles, the statement said.
The NIA investigation team at the airport arrested Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin living primarily in Chicago (US), soon after he emerged from the airplane, after completing all the necessary legal formalities, it said.
The agency also shared a picture of Rana in custody of its officers after his extradition.
The NIA secured Rana’s extradition following years of sustained and concerted efforts and after the terror mastermind’s last-ditch efforts to get a stay on his extradition from the US failed, said the statement issued by the anti-terror agency.
With the coordinated efforts of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), along with the relevant authorities in the United States, the NIA said it worked closely with other Indian intelligence agencies through the entire extradition process, which marked a major step in India’s efforts to bring individuals involved in terrorism to justice, irrespective of which part of the world they had fled to.
Rana was being held in judicial custody in the US pursuant to proceedings initiated by the NIA under the India-US Extradition Treaty.
The extradition finally came through after Rana’s various litigations and appeals, including an emergency application before the US Supreme Court, were rejected with the active assistance of US Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, US Marshals Service, FBI’s Legal Attache Office in New Delhi, and US Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser for Law Enforcement, the statement said.
The diligent and persistent efforts of MEA and MHA culminated in securing the surrender warrant for the fugitive, leading to his eventual extradition, it said.
Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the devastating terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008.
A total of 166 people were killed and more than 238 injured in the deadly attacks. (PTI)
