There is no immediate possibility of extradition of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana, accused of plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to India until he completes his 14-year jail term in the US in December 2021, Indian officials with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
Rana (58) was convicted by a US federal court in 2013 on charges of participating in a conspiracy to attack a Danish newspaper and providing material support to Pakistani terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for carrying out the Mumbai attacks in which 166 people, including six US nationals, were killed.
“The NIA [National Investigation Agency], which probed the larger conspiracy to carry out a series of strikes in India beginning from the Mumbai attacks, is in regular touch with its American counterparts to complete the paperwork with regard to his extradition ahead of his release in 2021. We don’t want any delay in his extradition. There have been numerous video conferences between the officials of the two countries and a visit by a team of NIA officials to US in this regard,” a central counter-terror official said on condition of anonymity.
The NIA team was provided with guidance to complete paperwork over Rana’s extradition by the Americans according to their judicial system, the official added. “There are a few things that cannot be discussed in a video conference, therefore a team of officials was sent there,” said the official.
{{/usCountry}}The NIA team was provided with guidance to complete paperwork over Rana’s extradition by the Americans according to their judicial system, the official added. “There are a few things that cannot be discussed in a video conference, therefore a team of officials was sent there,” said the official.
{{/usCountry}}Another person familiar with the developments said NIA was the lead agency for dealing with all matters related to Rana’s extradition and the external affairs ministry will intervene only if necessary.
An official in the US said while two countries continue to discuss Rana’s possible extradition, an early resolution is not expected as the process is “cumbersome” and “time-consuming”. A request sent to US department of justice for comments remained unanswered as of press time. The official added there were no recent developments in the process.
The Indian and American officials want to complete paperwork before Rana’s release in order to avoid his deportation to Canada, as he is Canadian national. The first official said that the Americans have always been willing to look at the possibility of Rana’s extradition to India.
The official said in order to circumvent the clause of double jeopardy, which bars a person to be punished twice for the same crime, India has sought Rana’s extradition on the charge of being involved in conspiracy to carry out a series of strikes on installations such as Delhi-based National Defence College and Chabad Houses in several cities and committing forgery to facilitate Indian visa for his co-accused, David Coleman Headley.
Minister of state for external affairs VK Singh said in a written reply in Parliament in its last session that the government was engaged with the relevant US authorities to bring back individuals to face trial in India under the provisions of the 1997 India-US extradition treaty. “Most recently, a team from the National Investigation Agency visited the US on December 13-15, 2018 for a discussion with the US authorities,” said Singh.