 "Tahawwur Hussain Rana's link to Pakistan is well-known. File Image/ANI")
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian national who is a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited to India from the United States. He was brought to Delhi on a special flight, accompanied by Indian intelligence and investigative officials.
Before Rana’s plane landed in India, Pakistan distanced itself from him and confirmed his Canadian nationality. The Pakistan foreign ministry’s spokesperson reportedly said on Thursday (April 9) that Rana, a former Pakistan army captain, has not “renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades”.
“His Canadian nationality is very clear," Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said.
Despite the Pakistan government’s remarks, Rana’s link to the South Asian country is well-established. Let’s take a look.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana’s link to Pakistan
Born in Chichawatni in Pakistan’s Punjab province, Tahawwur Hussain Rana served as a doctor in the Pakistan Army’s medical corps.
He later moved to Canada in the late 1990s and obtained citizenship there.
Rana then relocated to the US, opening First World Immigration Services, a consultancy firm with offices in Chicago and other locations.
He was a childhood friend of David Headley, who got involved with the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Headley, also known as Daood Gilani, is one of the main plotters of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
As per ThePrint, Rana also had ties to other militant groups, including Al-Qaeda. His links to Pakistan’s former military personnel and their links to terrorist organisations have raised questions about Pakistan’s military’s connection to terrorist activities, particularly in India.
Sources in India’s intelligence establishment told The New Indian Express (TNIE) that Pakistan distancing itself from Rana is no coincidence. They say he has “vital knowledge” of Pakistan’s military and intelligence apparatus and their role in plotting the Mumbai terror attacks.
“Pakistan fears Rana will spill the beans… this sudden disavowal is nothing but strategic panic,” a senior counter-terror official told the newspaper.
Rana’s role in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks
The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks left 166 people, including 20 security force personnel and 26 foreigners, dead and hundreds of others injured at multiple iconic locations in India’s financial capital.
Headley, who was arrested in October 2009 by US authorities, later became an approver in the case and is serving a 35-year sentence.
Rana was also arrested in October 2009 at Chicago’s O’Hare airport for arranging material support for terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Copenhagen. Headley’s testimony led to Rana’s sentence of 14 years in US prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
In 2011, Rana was convicted for plotting an attack on the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, which had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005.
The same year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet against nine persons, including Rana, for orchestrating and executing the Mumbai terror attacks.
As per the Mumbai police’s chargesheet in 2023, Rana entered India on November 11, 2008 and stayed until November 21. During his visit, he was at the Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai’s Powai for two days. Rana, along with his wife Samraz Rana Akhtar, also reportedly visited Hapur in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Agra, Kochi, and Ahmedabad, between November 13 and November 21, 2008.
Headley had met Rana in the US in June 2006 and discussed their future action plans, investigation officials told PTI.
The Mumbai crime branch also discovered email communications between Headley and Rana. In one of the emails, Headley asked him about the email ID of Major Iqbal, an operative of the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and another accused in the 26/11 terror case.
India’s plans for Tahawwur Rana
Rana has been extradited to India after years of efforts to bring him from the US to face justice in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Rana’s extradition came after he exhausted all his legal options in the US.
The 64-year-old will be taken to NIA headquarters in Delhi under tight security. He is to be interrogated in a high-security cell there.
Rana is later expected to be transferred to Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
With inputs from agencies