Tahawwur Rana, the accused of plotting the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, is being flown to India on a special plane after he exhausted his legal options to challenge his extradition.
Tahawwur Rana, the accused of plotting the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, is likely to be presented before a Delhi court after he is extradited from the US. He is being flown to India on a special plane after he exhausted his legal options to challenge his extradition to India. Reports suggest that the plane carrying Tahawwur Rana is expected to touch down India on Thursday.
The government sources told PTI that a multi-agency team from India has gone to the US and all paperwork and legalities are being completed with US authorities.
In the meantime, check the exclusive list of Pakistani terrorists and ISI operatives that were in touch with Tahawwur Rana via David Headley. All instructions for Mumbai 26/11 terror attack came from these top Lashkar commanders and ISI operatives.
List of Pakistani terrorists, ISI operatives that were in touch with Tahawwur Rana
Sajid Majeed
- Sajid Majeed is a senior Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) Commander and heads the LeT’s ‘India set up’. He was the key planner of Mumbai terror attacks.
- He was the LeT’s main handler of David Coleman Headley and provided financial and logistic support to him for conducting surveillance of the targets for the Mumbai attacks.
- He was personally involved in the training and briefing of all the 10 terrorists who carried out the Mumbai attacks.
- Sajid Majeed was most probably present in the Lashkar control room in Karachi during 26/11 and the Government of India has asked for his voice samples from the Government of Pakistan.
Abu Qahafa
- Abu Qahafa is a senior LeT trainer and an expert in handling arms and explosives. He was one of the main conspirators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
- He is an absconding accused in the Mumbai terror attack case. He was closely involved in providing physical and technical training to the 10 terrorists who carried out the Mumbai attacks.
- He imparted training in GPS handling and map reading to the attackers. During the entire period when the Mumbai terror attacks conspiracy was being hatched, he acted as a secretary to Sajid Majeed.
- There is evidence to suggest his presence in the LeT control room in Pakistan during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The Government of India has asked for his voice samples from the Pakistan authorities.
Abu Alqama
- Abu Alqama is a senior Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) Commander who was in charge of the Kashmir set up till 2008. He was a key conspirator of the Mumbai terror attacks.
- He was involved in training and briefing of all the 10 terrorists who carried out the Mumbai terror attacks. He was present in Karachi when the attackers left the shores of Pakistan for Mumbai.
- Abu Alqama was most probably present in the Lashkar control room during 26/11, where he was exhorting the attackers to kill more and more people.
- He has been arrested and charge sheeted by Pakistani authorities in the case registered by them in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks. The Government of India has asked for Abu Alqama’s voice samples from Pakistan authorities.
Ashkar Member D
- Currently, he is believed to be the overall operational commander of LeT. (After the arrest of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi). He is one of the important conspirators of the Mumbai attacks and is an absconding accused in the case.
- He was involved in the planning of the Mumbai attacks since late 2005. He was involved in the recruitment and training of all the 10 terorrists who carried out the Mumbai attack.
- He is reported to have handled David Coleman Headley till early 2007. He also provided logistic and material support to the attackers.
Major Iqbal
- Major Iqbal is suspected to be a Pakistan ISI officer who was posted in Lahore during 2007 and 2008. He was handling David Coleman Headley on behalf of ISI for the Mumbai terror attacks.
- He provided funds ($25,000) and FICN to David Coleman Headley for meeting his expenses during the surveillance operations in India.
- David Headley used to give all the surveillance videos first to Major Iqbal and then to the LeT. Major Iqbal, on behalf of the ISI, was actively involved in the planning and execution of Mumbai terror attacks.
- He is an accused in Case 04/2009 of NIA pertaining to conspiracy to target important locations in India.
Tahawwur’s extradition would expose Pakistan’s role: Sources
Meanwhile, sources told PTI that Tahawwur Rana’s extradition from the US would help probe agencies expose the role of Pakistani state actors behind the dastardly act that claimed 166 lives.
The significant development comes days after Rana’s last-ditch effort to stop his extradition failed as the US Supreme Court denied his application, moving him closer to being handed over to the Indian authorities to face the law in the country.
Rana was lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House in February, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of “very evil people of the world” Rana “to face justice in India”.
The sources said Rana’s extradition would help probe agencies expose the role of Pakistani state actors behind the 26/11 attacks and may shed new light on the investigation.
Once extradited, Rana may be kept in the NIA’s custody initially after due legal formalities, they said.
His extradition from the US could provide important leads into his travels in parts of northern and southern India days before the carnage in 2008, the sources said.
The central security officials had found that Rana had visited Hapur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kochi in Kerala, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Mumbai in Maharashtra with his wife Samraz Rana Akhtar between November 13 and November 21, 2008, they said.
Rana had submitted business sponsor letters from ‘Immigrant Law Center’ and Property Tax payment notice from Cook County as his address proof.
Here’s what happened on November 26, 2008
On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India’s financial capital Mumbai using the Arabian sea route.
Among the 166 people killed were US, British and Israeli nationals. The nearly 60-hour assault sent shockwaves across the country and even brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
The terrorists had targeted multiple iconic locations in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, Leopold Cafe, Chabad House and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance.
In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in Yerawada Jail in Pune.