Who is Tahawwur Rana, the Islamic terrorist behind 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, who has been extradited to India by the US government

In a breakthrough in India’s efforts to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to justice, the mastermind of the terror attack, Tahawwur Rana, is being brought to India today. Rana’s extradition comes after last month, the US Supreme Court rejected his plea seeking a stay on his extradition to India. Rana is reportedly being carried on a special flight that departed from the US on Wednesday (9th April), which is expected to land in Delhi later today.

As per reports, a joint team of the National Investigation Agency and the Research and Analysis Wing is bringing Rana back. On his arrival in Delhi, he is likely to be arrested and produced before an NIA judge in Delhi’s Patiala House Court. Security has been enhanced around the Patiala House Court with the deployment of paramilitary forces and Delhi Police personnel. Ahead of Rana’s extradition to India, the Patiala House Court had recalled the trial records and documents relating to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Notably, on February 14, 2025, US President Donald Trump US President announced Rana’s extradition to India. Trump said that Rana will face justice. The announcement came during Indian PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States. Last year in August, a panel of Judges of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the (India-US Extradition) Treaty permits Tahawwur Rana’s extradition. The court upheld the decision of California’s Central District Court, which had denied Rana’s habeas corpus petition. Rana had challenged the certification of the magistrate judge that declared him “extraditable to India” for his role in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Who is Tahawwur Rana

Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian, was born in Chichawatni in the Punjab Province of Pakistan on January 12, 1961. He served as a physician in the Military Corps of the Pakistani military. He migrated to Canada in 1997, along with his wife, who is also a physician. He obtained Canadian citizenship in 2001. He is a close associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Coleman Headley, who is wanted in India for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Rana and Coleman reportedly attended the training camps organised by LeT in Pakistan.

On November 26, 2008, a group of Pakistan-sponsored LeT terrorists entered Indian territory through a sea route in the Arabian Sea. The terrorists carried out ghastly terror attacks on different locations in Mumbai, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station, two luxury hotels- Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, Cama Hospital and a Jewish centre called Nariman House. The chilling terrorist attack that sent shockwaves across the country continued for about 60 hours.

Rana was convicted in the United States for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which 175 people were killed. He was imprisoned for more than 10 years for supporting terrorist groups and conspiring in the Mumbai attacks. The panel held that the Non Bis in Idem exception (double jeopardy) did not apply in Rana’s case because the Indian charges contained distinct elements from the crimes for which he was acquitted in the United States. The US court noted that India provided sufficient competent evidence to support the magistrate judge’s finding of probable cause that Rana committed the charged crimes.

After the US Supreme Court’s decision in March 2025 to extradite him to India, Rana made a desperate attempt to stop his extradition by playing the religion card. Rana has approached the US Supreme Court seeking an emergency stay of his extradition to India, claiming in his application that he will be tortured in India because he is a Muslim from Pakistan. He also sought relief based on medical grounds. In his application, he submitted that he is suffering from multiple ailments, including an advanced cardiac aneurysm, Parkinson’s with cognitive decline, and possible bladder cancer.

However, all of Rana’s desperate attempts to prevent his extradition proved unsuccessful, and he is finally being brought to India to face the law.

During the investigation of the attack, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India booked Rana with conspiracy to wage war, commit murder, commit forgery for the purpose of cheating, using forged documents and electronic records, and commit a terrorist act.

In 2011, he was convicted in a Chicago court of providing material support to the Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that was behind the Mumbai terror attack. He also supported a plot to attack a Danish newspaper for printing cartoons of Prophet Muhammed in 2005. However, that attack never materialized.

As per reports, he allowed Headley to open a branch of his immigration law business in Mumbai based out of Chicago. The aim was to provide Headley with a cover story. He also traveled to Denmark as a representative of the company.

In 2009, Rana was arrested and charged along with Headley for plotting attacks on the office of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten for publishing cartoons of the Prophet. During the investigation into the matter, it was found that Rana also visited Mumbai and had stayed in the Taj Mahal Palace, one of the locations attacked during the Mumbai terror attack. His brother maintained throughout that Rana was innocent, and Headley duped him.

In 2011, he was convicted by the Jury for his association with LeT and planning an attack on the Danish newspaper. However, he was acquitted of involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2013.

On June 10, 2020, India filed an initial complaint seeking his provisional arrest for extradition. Biden administration supported and approved the request.

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