With the US Supreme Court rejecting 26/11 co-conspirator Tahawwur Rana’s appeal against extradition, the Canadian national of Pakistani origin will shortly face trial in India. That the verdict came a day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president was perhaps incidental, but it marked an important milestone in the deepening Indo-US ties to combat terror. Around the same time, India sought to iron out wrinkles by announcing the recommendation of a high-level committee that went into the botched attempt to bump off Khalistani radical Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Canadian-American lawyer who hails from Punjab, on US soil. The panel advised expeditious legal action against a RAW officer who went rogue and handled the messy operation from Delhi. The officer was subsequently sacked. With Trump back in the White House, how he would deal with elements instigating violence in India is not clear yet. India designated Pannun as a terrorist in 2020. Would Trump help expedite Pannun’s extradition? Possibly as a safety valve, the rabble-rouser gatecrashed into Trump’s inaugural ceremony but raised Khalistani slogans.
As for Rana, he had provided critical support to David Coleman Headley, who had scouted sites for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. He also assisted terrorists who plotted the beheading of employees of a Danish newspaper from his base in the US at Lashkar-e-Taiba’s behest. Headley and Rana were high school mates and later joined the Pakistan army. Rana was sentenced to 14 years in jail in America. Headley had pleaded guilty in 2010 to aiding and abetting the massacre of 166 people in Mumbai, which included six Americans. His plea deal included protection from extradition to India.
Immigration service is the easiest of the covers used by spooks worldwide. Whether or not he was part of Pakistan’s sleeper cell, Rana ran the First World Immigration Services in the US and let Pakistani terror outfits use it to further their objectives. For example, Headley employed the First World business card as a cover for target scouting in Mumbai and Holland. Rana’s extradition is expected to help establish the role of Pakistan’s deep state in the 26/11 carnage. The US turned Headley approver to get his and Rana’s conviction. How India would peel off the layers of secrecy and make Rana sing remains to be seen.