26/11 plotter held on India’s extradition plea

Washington, June 20

Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana was rearrested in Los Angeles on June 10 on an extradition request by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 persons were killed, according to the US prosecutors.

Hearing in US on June 30

• A US court has scheduled Tahawwur Rana’s bond hearing for June 30
• Covid-positive, he is in quarantine and will take up hearing by video or phone
• Rana conspired to assist LeT to plan and carry out the Mumbai attack

Rana, 59, a childhood friend of David Coleman Headley, was recently released from jail on compassionate ground after he told a US court he had tested positive for Covid. India had informed the US Rana was being prosecuted for a number of offences, including the conspiracy to commit murder.

Between 2006 and November 2008, Rana conspired with Headley and others in Pakistan to assist Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harakat ul-Jihad-e-Islami, both US-designated terrorist organisations, to plan and carry out the Mumbai attacks. Headley is serving a 35-year jail term in the US for his role in the attack. — PTI