26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Rana not a flight risk, his attorney tells US court

Washington, June 23

Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, who was rearrested in Los Angeles on an extradition request by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, is not a flight risk, his attorney has told a US court and proposed a $1.5 million bond for his release.

Rana (59), was recently released from jail on compassionate ground after testing positive for COVID-19. However, he was rearrested in Los Angeles on June 10 following an extradition request by India.

US District Judge Jacqueline Chooljian of the Central District of California has scheduled his bond hearing for June 30.

“Rana should be released on a robust bond: secured by approximately $1.5 million in property pledged by family and friends and under the supervision of his daughter, Lemaan Rana, a matriculating medical student and Ph.D. candidate,” Amy Karlin, the Interim Federal Public Defender, said in the court submission on behalf of Rana.

India seeks his arrest on a number of offences, including the conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit forgery for the purpose of cheating, and murder under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He is sought for his role in 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Karlin argued that the criminal charges against Rana are largely identical to those for which he already went to trial — namely, that Rana conspired with his childhood friend and Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Coleman Headley to carry out the terror attack in Mumbai which left 166 people, including six Americans, dead.

Arguing that Rana can show he is entitled to bail pending his extradition proceedings, his attorney told the court that as was the case there, any concern about his risk of flight is mitigated by both his substantial bond package and the difficulties he would face in leaving the country.

Rana faces health risks above and beyond what are faced by all individuals facing extradition, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is more, his extradition challenge will present a “substantial question” with a high likelihood of success. Finally, as the District Court Illinois already found, Rana’s release would not endanger the community, the attorney said.

Rana’s youngest daughter, Lemaan Rana, a US citizen has volunteered to act as the third party custodian for her father and to act as a surety on an unsecured bond in any amount set by the Court, Karlin said.

Lemaan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2017, and currently works as a Graduate Student Researcher at Smith-Zhang Laboratory. — PTI