Tahawwur Rana Extradition LIVE: NIA releases first picture of accused after his India landing

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused, was brought to Delhi court on Thursday night, PTI reported.

Rana was produced before Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) judge Chander Jit Singh, who is currently hearing arguments on Rana's custody proceedings.

Tahawwur Rana arrived at the Patiala house court in front of a special NIA judge.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said 26/11 terror attack key accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was extradited to India on Thursday, should be hanged immediately and claimed the government will do so during the Bihar elections.

Former IPS Kiran Bedi suggested measures that need to be undertaken as 26/11 attacks accused Tahawwur Rana and his stay in the Tihar jail.

"Tihar jail has previously housed hardened criminals, separatists, and terrorists. However, Rana's case requires extraordinary measures due to its international implications. I would suggest the following precautions must be considered at all costs- solitary, high-surveillance confinement, inter-agency monitoring...if possible, AI-assisted surveillance. Also, while transporting and prosecuting such a globally high-profile terrorist suspect like this, very key safety measures should be included. The following could be armed convoys with decoys, virtual trials, staff background checks, and courtroom fortification... India's prison infrastructure needs modernization to meet global standards...With the right upgrades and intelligence, it is essential to establish a coordinated system of legal safeguards, technological infrastructure, and strategic foresight," she told ANI.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday evening formally arrested Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the key conspirator in the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, immediately after he arrived in Delhi, ANI reported.

Special NIA judge Chander Jit Singh reaches court to hear case against Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

Advocate Piyush Sachdeva from Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to represent 26/11 attacks accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana.

“Tahawwur Rana, the mastermind of 26/11 - the biggest terrorist attack on the country has been brought to India. For this, I wholeheartedly congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. About a month ago, there was a discussion between Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump. According to that, America transferred the biggest criminal of the country to India. I also congratulate EAM Dr S Jaishankar for this. There is no doubt that Tahawwur Rana, responsible for the attack on the world's largest democracy, will get severe punishment,” the tweet, originally in Hindi, read.

NIA legal team has reached Patiala House Court as Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, extradited.

Security tightened at Patiala House court in Delhi as Tahawwur Hussain Rana brought back to India.

Here is the full text of the press release shared by the NIA as Tahawwur Rana's plane landed in Delhi.

"The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday successfully secured the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind of the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem to justice.

Rana was being held in judicial custody in the US pursuant to proceedings initiated under the India-US Extradition Treaty for his extradition. The extradition finally came through after Rana exhausted all legal avenues to stay the move.

The District Court for the Central District of California had ordered his extradition on 16th May 2023. Rana then filed multiple litigations in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, all of which were rejected. He subsequently filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, two habeas petitions, and an emergency application before the U.S. Supreme Court, which were also denied. The extradition proceedings were initiated between the two countries after India eventually secured a surrender warrant for the wanted terrorist from the US government.

With the active assistance of USDoJ, the US Sky Marshal, NIA worked closely with other Indian intelligence agencies, NSG through the entire extradition process, which also saw India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs coordinating with the other relevant authorities in the United States to take the matter to its successful conclusion.

Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley @ Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the devastating terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008. A total of 166 persons were killed and over 238 injured in the deadly attacks.

Both LeT and HUJI have been declared as terrorist organisations by the Government of India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967."

Plane carrying the 26/11 Mumbai attacks accused Tahawwur Rana lands at Delhi's Palam airport.

Union Minister of Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi said that Tahawwur Rana's extradition would help to unveil everyone involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks

"Our government has an approach of zero tolerance towards Naxalism and terrorism...This is a big step towards the fight against terrorism. We will get to know who all were involved in it," Joshi said.

BJP MP Anurag Thakur said that the difference is that attacks used to happen during Congress rule and perpetrators being brought to justice during PM Narendra Modi's tenure.

"During Congress regime, many people like Kasab and Rana came and carried out bomb blasts in the country. Congress did nothing, but PM Modi brought back those criminals, even from foreign countries. Now, the court in India will punish them," Thakur told reporters in Hamirpur.

Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that India had made a ‘special place’ in the world since Narendra Modi became the country's PM.

"It is an absurd allegation by a person who himself has no regard for human rights. He has been in jail in the US for the last about 10 years, and then for a person like him to say as if you see something wrong has been done to him. The US court has conclusively found that he was a co-conspirator in the Mumbai massacre along with David Headley, he is an operator of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He provided all support, including infrastructure and camouflage support, to David Headley when Headley visited India. Since the formation of the PM Modi-led government in the nation, India has made a special place in the world," Rohatgi said.

Maharashtra BJP MLA Ram Kadam question the Congress led UPA for not bringing Tahawwur Rana back during its term, saying that it was a great diplomatic win under PM Narendra Modi.

“It is a proud moment for each and every citizen of this country and it's a great diplomatic win under the Leadership of PM Narendra Modi...If there is a political will, then everything is possible, and because of that, we are able to bring him back. Why did the Congress government not bring him back? This is justice to those families who were massacred in the Mumbai attack,” he told ANI.

Congress leader and former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan demanded a fair trial for Tahawwur Rana.

"Rana has not confessed to his crime, while David Coleman Headley has admitted to having played a role. So, the American Government decided to make Headley an informer...They have included him in their drug enforcement agency. So that the drug smuggling can be checked. He is now on the American payroll. After a long battle from 2009 to 2025, today one of them is being brought back...There will be a trial. We demand that just like there was a proper trial under Indian laws for Kasab, he had the right to speak for himself and have a lawyer - he was given a lawyer and he had the opportunity to appeal in the high court as well as the Supreme Court. Judgement was pronounced after all of these; similarly, when there is trial for Rana, he too should be given legal rights, and he will have to accept whatever punishment is given to him. A kangaroo court will not function in our country," Chavan told ANI

Former Israeli Ambassador to India, Mark Sofer praised Indian authorities for not giving up on Tahawwur Rana's extradition.

"I have nothing but praise for the Indian authorities, the Indian government, for not giving up, for chasing the terrorists, more than 17 years down the line and for bringing them to justice... Almost 200 people or so that were massacred by the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) in 2008, they deserved justice. The families deserve justice. It was a trauma for Israel, but above all, it was a trauma for India...It sends a strong message to terrorists anywhere that we will never give up, that India will never give up. You will be held responsible for the attack...We worked very closely then with the Indian authorities in trying to save the lives of the hostages...It was a four or five-day horror that we all went through...Today is in many ways a historic or momentous occasion in the fact that people are being brought to trial and being extradited to India for the crimes that they committed even 17, 18 years ago," he said.

Israel's Consul General to West India, Kobbi Shoshani has lauded the "big victory" for the Indian government's diplomacy, which secured the extradition of the 2006 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana.

Speaking to ANI, Shoshani said that Rana has to be brought to justice for the crime committed in Mumbai during the 26/11 attacks.

He said that Rana's extradition to India will bring a little bit of comfort to the families of the victims.

"I would like to congratulate India. I think it's been a long time, sometimes it's too long, but it's a big victory for diplomacy, for diplomacy of the government of India. It's a big success to bring him here to India. Personally, I think we have to bring terrorists or people who are suspected as terrorists to justice. After so many years, it's a big success for Indian diplomacy," Shoshani said.

With Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana being extradited from the US, the Congress Thursday said the Modi government did not initiate the process, instead it benefited from the "mature, consistent and strategic diplomacy" that began under the UPA.

Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government did not secure any breakthrough to make the extradition possible, nor is it the result of any grandstanding.

Chidambaram added that it was a testament to what the Indian state can achieve when diplomacy, law enforcement, and international cooperation are pursued sincerely and without any kind of chest-thumping.

"While the Modi government is rushing to take credit for this development, the truth is far from their spin," Chidambaram said in a statement.

This extradition is the culmination of a decade-and-a-half of painstaking diplomatic, legal, and intelligence efforts which were initiated, led, and sustained by the UPA government in close coordination with the United States, he said.

NIA is preparing to arrest 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana at the Palam airport in Delhi once his plane lands.

Plane carrying Tahawwur Rana, the key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, to land in Delhi

The Pakistan foreign office, in the country's first reaction to Tahawwur Rana's extradition to India, pointed out at his Canadian nationality.

“Tahawwur Rana has not renewed his Pakistani documents in the last two decades. His Canadian nationality is very clear," the statement said.