NEW DELHI: The extradition process of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Pakistani-Canadian doctor and the co-conspirator of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, will begin in January, the central government and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been informed by the US authorities, according to sources in the security establishment.
59-year-old Rana is serving a 14-year-prison sentence in a US prison in Los Angeles for plotting a terror attack on Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. In June, Rana was re-arrested by US authorities on a request from India after he was released on compassionate grounds due to his health condition.
In 2011, the NIA had filed a chargesheet against nine people including Rana, his former school-mate and friend David Coleman Headley, Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, al-Qaeda operative Illyas Kashmiri, and several Pakistan Army officials for planning and executing the dastardly 26/11 attack in which 166 people, including several American citizens, were killed.
A Chicago court in the US held Rana not guilty in 2011 and it acquitted him in the Mumbai terror attacks case. The Indian government has been trying to bring Rana to India for over five years now.
A security official said that India’s extradition case has become stronger as Rana’s sentencing term in US is coming to an end. Rana and Headley were both arrested in the US in 2009 for plotting attacks on the offices of the Danish newspaper. Headley is a Pakistani-American, also serving US prison, had pleaded guilty in 26/11.
Asserting that it stands with India and remains resolute in the fight against terrorism, the US said it is committed to hold the perpetrators of the heinous 26/11 terror attacks accountable to ensure justice for the victims.
November 26 marks the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
"Through the Rewards for Justice programme, we seek to ensure that all those responsible for this heinous attack face justice," US State Department deputy spokesman Cale Brown said on Wednesday.
"On the 12th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, the US reaffirms its commitment to holding the perpetrators accountable and ensuring justice for the victims, including six Americans. Standing alongside our Indian partners, we remain resolute in the fight against terrorism," Brown said.
Ten terrorists of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) carried out 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai.
At least 166 people, including six Americans and nine terrorists, were killed and over 300 others were injured in the attacks which began on November 26, 2008.
The Taj Mahal hotel, the Oberoi hotel, the Leopold Cafe, the Nariman (Chabad) House and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station were some of the locations targeted.
The Rewards for Justice programme is offering a reward of up to USD 5 million for information about the individuals responsible for these attacks.
Key members of this heinous plot remain at large and the investigation remains active and ongoing.
This reward offer extends to any individual who bears responsibility for this act of terror, the State Department said.
The six US citizens killed during the 26/11 attacks were Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum, Alan Scherr and his daughter Naomi Scherr.
David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American, and Tahawwur Rana, a former Pakistan Army doctor and currently a Canadian citizen, were indicted in a US court for their support to the LeT terrorist operation.
Meanwhile, Indian Americans on Wednesday held a memorial gathering in front of the US Capitol to pay respects to the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks.
(With PTI Inputs)