As US clears Rana extradition, focus on 6 other conspirators

With Pakistani-Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana facing imminent extradition to India following US approval, there is renewed attention on six other alleged conspirators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, who remain in Pakistan without facing significant legal consequences, senior Indian security officials say.

- Neeraj Chauhan

NEW DELHI:

The six continue to operate freely in Pakistan despite international sanctions and convictions, officials said, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Despite receiving a 78-year prison sentence in Pakistan in 2020 under US pressure, Saeed "is under protection of the ISI and freely carries out his group's terror activities", one of these officials said.

The group's operations chief, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, received three consecutive five-year sentences for terror funding in 2021. However, Indian agencies' officers say he can carry out his activities freely as well.