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'He is the key to unravel the 26/11 conspiracy.'
Avinash Mohananey, the retired Intelligence Bureau officer who spent a considerable time in Pakistan on security assignments, discusses the importance of Tahawwur Rana's extradition to India.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was involved in the planning of the terror attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, exhausted his last legal recourse in the US supreme court on January 21, 2025, when it denied his plea for rejecting his extradition to India, pending since 2019.
Rana, a former Pakistani military doctor turned Canadian businessman, ran an immigration consultancy in Chicago, which Indian investigators believe was a front for his involvement in the 26/11 terror attacks.
His connection to the attacks stems from his close association with David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American who played a crucial role in scouting locations for the assault.
Headley, under the guise of business trips, conducted surveillance of key Mumbai targets, and prosecutors argued that Rana helped facilitate this by allowing him to operate under his company's cover.
In 2011, Rana was convicted in the US for providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba and for his role in planning an attack on a Danish newspaper. However, he was acquitted of direct involvement in the Mumbai attacks. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2013.
In May 2023, the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit approved his extradition to India, where he faces terrorism-related charges. His final plea in the US supreme court was rejected on January 21 this year.
Rana's involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks underscore the complexities of global terrorism networks and the ongoing efforts of international law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice.
National Investigation Agency investigators flew to the US on January 30 to bring Rana to India.
Could you help our readers understand what exactly is Tahawwur Rana's extradition case and why is it so important for India?
This extradition will help India untangle or unravel the entire conspiracy behind the 26/11 Mumbai serial terror attacks.
We had (only) one catch (out of the 10 terrorists that came through the sea route and landed near Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai and then launched a terror attack that killed more than 186 people in Mumbai between November 26, 2008 and November 29, 2008), Ajmal Amir Kasab, and he gave us lot of information about how the planning was done and how they came to Mumbai and how they carried out the attack and how everything went.
Then in 2012, we had Abu Jindal Ansari alias Abu Jindal.
He was from Beed, Maharashtra, and he was also in the control room of the LeT when the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack happened. He then travelled to Saudi Arabia and from Saudi Arabia he was extradited to India.
The third person who is in custody of the Americans is David Coleman Headley. We could not access Headley because he had agreed to a plea bargain on the issue (with the US investigators and judicial system) that he would not be handed over to India.
He had a crucial role to play because he carried out the surveys, he made videos, he visited every hotel, every place, the railway station, the entire track, even the place where the boats landed.
He did every inch of the survey and made videos of how to move from this place to that place. So he did all that things, but we have not been able to get access on Coleman. He will not be extradited to India.
So Tahawwur Rana becomes important?
Yes, because he is a link between Headley, LeT and even to some extent al-Qaeda. On one end he (Rana) was a friend of Headley from college days, when Tahawwur was a cadet studying medicine in the Armed Forces College there (in Pakistan).
Later he was employed as a doctor with the Pakistan army. Then he migrated to Canada and became a Canadian citizen. He knew Headley. They had friendship.
Headley brought him into the net of Sajid Mir.
Sajid Mir was one of the main conspirators of 26/11, along with Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and other LeT operatives.
He (Headley) also brought him (Rana) in contact with Syed Mohammed Abdul Rehman, who was a close associate of Ilyas Kashmiri.
Ilyas Kashmiri, an al-Qaeda operative, was on the US radar and so he was finally killed in a drone strike by the Americans.
Besides that, Headley also got him in touch with Major Iqbal of Pakistan's ISI.
How did Rana help Headley?
Every trip Headley made to India, he shared details with Tahawwur Rana and told him what he has done.
In fact, his sponsorship or the introduction that he had for the visit to India for getting an Indian visa was from his (Rana's) organisation -- First World Immigration Service.
From there he (Headley) got a letter through the attorney of Tahawwur Rana, who gave Headley an introduction letter that said that they want to set up a business in India. That helped Headley to get the Indian visa.
What happens once Rana is extradited back to India?
We will again start court proceedings against him. In this jigsaw puzzle of 26/11, he may add a few pieces or clarify a few links that we don't know about.
He would also tell us about Headley's exact involvement, the role of Sajid Mir and the ISI because they (Mir and ISI) were in touch with him (Rana) also.
He is the key to unravel the 26/11 conspiracy and also unravel the roles of all these terrorists.
He can also shed light on if there was any involvement of al-Qaeda also in it (the 26/11 terror attacks); LeT, of course was the main mastermind.
Rana is privy to all these secrets and many other things. What was transpiring between him and Major Iqbal of ISI? What was transpiring between him and Abdul Rehman of al-Qaeda or with Sajid Mir?
How does Rana's information add to what we already know?
These organisations, whether it is LeT, al-Qaeda, they operate in silos. Kasab had little information. He was a foot soldier. But Abu Jundal had more information because he was one of the active members of the group and he was in fact, according to Headley, was supposed to be 10th suicide attacker in the attack.
But being Indian, at the last moment, he was withdrawn because they were not sure whether he will be able to do it or whether the plan will leak out. They had little faith in him.
So Abu Jundal knew some portion of the puzzle. Then Headley knew some portion of the puzzle. Rana knows some portion of the puzzle. So this is adding to our already acquired knowledge.
Under what charges will he be tried?
He will be tried under all the charges of murder, waging war against India and all offences under which the others (Abu Jundal and Kasab) were tried because it's a common conspiracy.
Like Ajmal Kasab was tried and Abu Jundal is being tried. He will also face the same consequence because it's a common conspiracy. Once a conspiracy comes in, then he is equally responsible for all the acts (of terror) committed here.
What could be the punishment if proven guilty on these charges?
It depends. Now it comes to the political side because if he is getting extradited to India, they (the US judicial system) must have some conditions. They may say that you can't give capital punishment. Like, we had the case of Abu Salem. The Portuguese said that you have to give in writing that you will not hang him. So there are sovereign guarantees that the Americans may ask for.
Do you think the Trump administration would be more than willing to send Rana back to India?
Look, they have no love for Tahawwur Rana because one, he's a Canadian citizen. Generally, countries avoid extraditing their own nationals. But he's not an American. That way Trump should not have any issue on that count.
Second, as we have seen Trump unravelling, we see that he strikes deals, so he may strike a deal for something. He may seek some quid pro quo for that. What will that be? I don't know.
What will be the procedure that the NIA team which has flown to the US on January 30 will be following there? How long before Rana actually lands in India?
Again, it's a political call, so it depends on how much time the (US) State Department takes because our plea is pending. There is no legal hurdle to his extradition. It all depends on the moment the State Department decides to extradite him. Then the process is simple. Then he can be sent back to India.
Where do you think such prisoners are usually kept?
He will be tried in Mumbai only (because the 26/11 terror attacks happened in Mumbai). The whole process will be in Mumbai.