Washington: The US is seeking to extradite Tahawwur Rana to India for his alleged involvement with David Coleman Headley, who masterminded the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which killed more than 166 people at various venues throughout the city over a three-day period beginning Nov. 26.
In a July 15 court filing at the US District Court of Central California, attorneys for the US Justice Department laid out the case against Rana and his involvement with Headley. The Justice Department claimed Rana knew about the attacks before they occurred, yet did nothing to stop them. Attorneys also claimed that Rana applauded those who carried out the attacks, saying they should receive Pakistan’s highest military honors.
He also reportedly told Headley that “they (Indians) deserved it.” Rana has been declared a fugitive in India, where he is wanted on several charges related to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, including “Waging War or Conspiracy to Wage War,” and “Conspiracy to Commit a Terrorist Attack.” India has also charged Rana with murder; the Indian Supreme Court has established that a suspect need not be at the scene of the crime when a murder is committed.
“Because members of the conspiracy committed acts resulting in death with the intention of causing death, or at minimum committed those acts knowing its imminent dangers, there is sufficient evidence that the elements for murder would be satisfied. Under Indian law, other members of the conspiracy also would be liable for murder, even if they were not physically present. In this case, death resulting from the attacks was foreseeable,” wrote attorneys for the Justice Department, in laying out their case for the extradition of Rana.
India issued an arrest warrant for Rana in 2018. He is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence in Los Angeles, California, on charges of providing material support to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was plotting an attack on a US newspaper. He was sentenced in 2013, released on June 9, 2020 for humanitarian reasons, but re-arrested a day later to be held for extradition.
In court documents, US attorneys said they had established sufficient proof that Rana had helped Headley plan the Mumbai attacks. As early as August 2005, Rana was aware that his childhood friend, also known as Daood Gilani, was involved with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and participated in terrorism training in Pakistan, including weapons training, ambush training, raids training, and military training, according to court documents.
“Throughout his numerous trips to Mumbai on behalf of LeT and other co-conspirators, Headley kept Rana apprised of his activities, providing updates on his surveillance and communications with his terrorist contacts in Pakistan,” they wrote in court documents, adding that on several occasions, Headley returned to Chicago to meet with Rana immediately after meeting with LeT members and other conspirators in Pakistan, providing specific information about the surveillance he conducted during his trips to Mumbai. Rana’s attorneys argued that if he were to be extradited to India, the US would be violating the Fifth Amendment double jeopardy clause, which prohibits successive prosecutions for lesser-included and greater offenses, because they are considered the same offense.
