2008 Mumbai Attacks: Following the extradition of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who is a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai blasts, the United States has said that the 26/11 terror attacks shocked the entire world, and America has long supported India’s efforts to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.
On April 9, the United States extradited Rana, 64, to India “to face justice for his role in planning the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks,” US Department of State Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Thursday.
“The United States has long supported India’s efforts to ensure those responsible for these attacks are brought to justice, and as President Trump has said, the United States and India will continue to work together to combat the global scourge of terrorism,” Bruce was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
Rana is in India’s “possession, and we are very proud of that dynamic,” she said. Bruce further stated that some people may not remember the attacks that resulted in the tragic loss of 166 lives, including six Americans, that shocked the entire world. “I encourage you to look them up and to find out exactly how horrible this was in the importance of this situation today,” she said.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the US Department of Justice said in a statement to PTI that Rana’s extradition is a “critical step toward seeking justice” for the victims of the heinous attacks. The DOJ spokesperson said that Washington extradited the convicted terrorist and Pakistani-Canadian citizen to stand trial in India on 10 criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
“Rana’s extradition is a critical step toward seeking justice for the six Americans and scores of other victims who were killed in the heinous attacks,” the spokesperson said. A team led by NIA authorities landed in India late Thursday with Rana, who will now face justice in the country for his role and involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks carried out by Pakistan-based LeT terrorists.
The multi-agency team from India had gone to the US, and all paperwork and legalities to bring Rana back to India were completed. The hugely significant development comes just days after Rana’s last-resort attempt to evade extradition to India failed after the US Supreme Court justices denied his application, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice in the dastardly attacks.
Rana was lodged in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles and had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus’ on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan. Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.
Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’ and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website had noted that Rana’s renewed application had been “distributed for conference” on April 4 and the “application” had been “referred to the court.” A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said the application was “denied” by the court.
In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation, asserting that if extradited to India, he would be “in danger of being subjected to torture,” and “the likelihood of torture, in this case, is even higher though, as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks”.
The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto” death sentence in this case. It cited medical records from July 2024 that confirm Rana has multiple “acute and life-threatening diagnoses,” including multiple documented heart attacks, Parkinson’s disease with cognitive decline, a mass suggestive of bladder cancer, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, a history of chronic asthma, and multiple COVID-19 infections.
Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
(With agency Inputs)