Tahawwur Rana, one of the key conspirators in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited to India by the United States. On Thursday, a special aircraft carrying Rana landed at Delhi’s Palam Airport. Indian intelligence and investigation officials accompanied him on the flight. Upon arrival, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officially arrested him.
Later, a special court ordered Rana to be held in custody for 18 days, although the NIA had requested a 20-day remand. In court, the NIA stated that Rana was involved in a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorist activities and had conspired with other attackers.
Originally a Pakistani citizen, Rana also holds Canadian citizenship. He had been detained in a Los Angeles prison for several years. Authorities accused him of having close ties with David Coleman Headley, another Pakistani-origin terrorist. Together, they allegedly planned the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Rana was also linked with the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and had connections with another extremist group, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI).
The Mumbai attacks took place on November 26, 2008, when ten armed terrorists infiltrated the city via the sea and launched coordinated assaults on multiple locations, including the Taj Hotel, a hospital, a railway station, and a Jewish center. The 60-hour siege resulted in the deaths of 166 people and injuries to more than 300. Rana was arrested by the FBI in October 2009 and was convicted in a U.S. court in 2011. He had been held in a detention center in Los Angeles ever since.