What happens after 26/11 mastermind Tahawwur Rana lands in India from the US?

The road to justice is slow. Almost 17 years after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, accused of being the mastermind of the attacks, is being brought back to India from the United States to face the law.

According to officials, he is on a special flight to India from the US, with reports stating that he will mostly land this afternoon (April 10) after he exhausted all legal avenues to stop his extradition.

But what happens to Rana after he touches down in India? What comes next? We get you the answers.

Rana’s custody transferred to India

On April 6, a delegation of three senior officers from the National Investigation Agency (NIA), along with three officials from intelligence agencies, flew to the United States to take 64-year-old Rana into custody, who was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles. The move came after they received confirmation of a ‘surrender warrant’, which is a legal order allowing a fugitive to be handed over to another country.

On Tuesday evening (April 8), Rana was handed over to Indian officials in Los Angeles with the US Federal Bureau of Prisons updating his status as “not in BOP custody as of 04/08/2025”. A Times of India report stated that a surrender warrant was signed by DIG (NIA) Jaya Roy, enabling swift coordination to bring him back.

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Following this, a special plane carrying Rana took off from the US at 7:10 pm on Wednesday India time, according to an India Today report, and is expected to land in India today.

Rana to land in India, mostly to be lodged at Tihar

Once the plane carrying Rana lands in India, he is likely to be produced in the Patiala House special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court where the NIA could seek his custodial interrogation. In anticipation, security has been tightened outside the court’s premises with personnel from paramilitary forces and the Delhi Police being deployed. Moreover, thorough physical frisking and checking of visitors is being carried out to avoid any untoward incident.

VIDEO | Security tightened outside Patiala House Court in Delhi.

Mumbai terror attack case accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who is being extradited from the US, is likely to be lodged in a high-security ward in Tihar jail in Delhi when he reaches India. Necessary preparations… pic.twitter.com/1yPEoPWWb7

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 10, 2025

It is also reported that trial court records related to the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai have been retrieved by the Patiala Court.

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Once presented in court, Rana will be lodged at Delhi’s Tihar central prison. According to sources, preparations at the Tihar jail have been completed for Rana’s stay there. Owing to the sensitivity of the case, discreet high-security arrangements have been put in place at the prison.

According to an Indian Express report, the Nayayik Abhiraksha Vahini of Delhi Police has been asked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to send a jail van, along with pilot escorts, to the airport today. “The Nayayik Abhiraksha Vahini, which ferries jail inmates from prison to courts, has been asked to send its personnel to the airport. Initially, it was told to send a team around 4 am, but that was later changed to 7 am,” the source told Express.

Earlier, there was some speculation that Rana would be lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison — the same where Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was kept before his execution in November 2012. However, as case proceedings will take place in Delhi, sources reportedly said that it would make more sense to keep Rana in the capital.

Centre appoints special public prosecutor

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also issued a gazetted notification appointing a special public prosecutor for the trial for three years. The notice said that advocate Narender Mann will be the special public prosecutor in the trial.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 15 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 (34 of 2008), read with sub-section (8) of section 18 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), the central government hereby appoints Narender Mann, advocate as special public prosecutor for conducting trial and other matters related to NIA case RC-04/2009/NIA/DLI on behalf of the National Investigation Agency before the NIA Special Courts at Delhi and Appellate Courts, for a period of three years from the date of publication of this notification or till the completion of trial of the said case, whichever is earlier,” the notification said.

Rana’s involvement in the 26/11 attacks

But how exactly is Rana linked to Mumbai’s 26/11 terror attacks? Born in Pakistan and even serving in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps, 64-year-old Rana moved to Canada in 1997 where he started running multiple businesses, including an immigration consultancy.

According to the NIA, Rana played a key role in the 2008 attacks; he allegedly assisted David Coleman Headley , his childhood friend and co-conspirator, in obtaining a visa to India and establishing a front office in Mumbai for reconnaissance activities.

It’s believed that Rana knew about Headley’s terror connections and even helped in planning targets like the Chabad House in Mumbai and National Defence College in Delhi. Additionally, the NIA chargesheet against Rana states that he had made trips to several Indian cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, and Kochi, just before the 2008 attacks. Phone records show he was in regular contact with Headley during the planning phase.

The NIA has charged Rana under sections relating to criminal conspiracy, waging war against the government of India, murder and forgery and relevant sections under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

In fact, his connection to the 26/11 attacks was established in 2016 when Headley in a deposition revealed that he was in touch with Rana and even took his permission to open a business office in Mumbai as a front for his activities.

India’s extra-long wait for Rana

Rana’s arrival in India, which is likely to happen today, is the result of a very long extradition process with the US.

Rana had been arrested in the United States in 2009 for involvement in terror-related activities, including a foiled plot to attack Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. He was also convicted in the US for providing material support to the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Initially, the US did not grant India’s requests to extradite Rana. Washington said that Rana would first be required to serve his sentence in the United States.

However, things changed in 2020 when Rana was granted an early release on health grounds after testing positive for Covid-19. The Government of India revived its extradition request and requested Rana’s re-arrest. He was subsequently arrested in Los Angeles in June 2020.

Then US President Joe Biden supported the extradition request and the case was heard by US District Court Judge Jacqueline Chooljian in Los Angeles. The US Attorney’s office submitted that Rana met all the criteria for extradition. Rana, on the other hand, argued that he had already been acquitted of offences related to the Mumbai attack, and was protected by Article 6 of the extradition treaty between the US and India.

The district judge, however, granted the extradition request on May 16, 2023. This was further upheld by the US Court of Appeals on August 15, 2024, and again by the Supreme Court on January 21, 2025.

On February 13, Rana filed an emergency application, seeking a stay on his extradition. However, that was denied, which eventually paved the way for India to bring him to the country.

With inputs from agencies