The United States extradited Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, to India on April 9, 2025, to face trial for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The US Department of Justice described the extradition as a significant step toward justice for the victims, including six Americans killed in the attacks. Rana faces ten criminal charges in India, including conspiracy, murder, and facilitating terrorist acts.

Rana is accused of providing a "fraudulent cover" for David Coleman Headley, his childhood friend and key conspirator in the attacks. Headley conducted surveillance of potential targets in Mumbai for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a designated terrorist organisation.

The attacks, carried out between November 26 and 29, 2008, involved coordinated shootings and bombings at locations such as the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and a Jewish community centre, resulting in 166 deaths.

The extradition follows a five-year legal battle initiated in June 2020 when India requested Rana's arrest. His appeals against extradition were rejected at multiple levels of the US judiciary, culminating in the Supreme Court's denial of his final challenge on April 7, 2025.

Previously convicted in 2013 by a US federal court for supporting LeT and conspiring in a Denmark terror plot, Rana had served a 14-year prison sentence before his extradition.

Agencies