26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana may be brought to India today i.e. Wednesday. In accordance with the recommendations of the US court, special security arrangements have been made secretly in two jails in Delhi and Mumbai. It is believed that after being brought to India, Rana will be kept in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the first few weeks.
According to the Times of India report, the entire operation was monitored by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and top officials of the Home Ministry. Rana is a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin and has been an active member of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He had got a passport for his associate and Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley alias Dawood Gilani to travel to India. It was Headley who had identified the targets in India on whom the terrorist attack took place in November 2008 with the cooperation of Lashkar and Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. According to the investigating agencies, Rana not only played a role in the planning of these attacks, but he himself came to Mumbai via Dubai between 11 and 21 November 2008. He stayed at Hotel Renaissance (Powai) and reviewed the arrangements related to the attack. The attacks took place exactly five days later on 26 November.
According to US Justice Department documents, Tahawwur Rana and David Headley were arrested by the FBI in 2009 for conspiring to attack a Danish newspaper and helping Lashkar. In 2019, the Indian government handed over a diplomatic note to the US demanding Rana's extradition. In June 2020, India filed a formal complaint for his provisional arrest, paving the way for extradition. In February this year, the then US President Donald Trump confirmed Rana's extradition to India and said that he would "go to India and face justice." Rana's extradition is considered a major diplomatic and legal victory for India. Since 2019, the Modi government had made continuous efforts for this.
26/11 attacks and Rana's role
More than 174 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the Mumbai terror attacks on 26 November 2008. The attack was carried out by Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. Rana is accused of helping his associate David Coleman Headley plot the attack in Mumbai. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai by posing as an employee of Rana's immigration consultancy firm.