India's protracted fight to bring Rana back

Since at least 2018, Indian lawyers and law enforcement navigated lengthy processes and hearings in US to eventually extradite Rana

- Neeraj Chauhan and Rezaul H Laskar

NEW DELHI: Mumbai terror attacks co-conspirator Tahawwur Rana's extradition was one of the most complex cases pursued by Indian authorities, involving multiple visits to the US, convincing the American side about due process, and ensuring the former Pakistan Army officer remained in custody when he was to be released, officials said on Thursday.

Rana, 64, a Pakistan-born Canadian citizen, was arrested by US authorities on October 18, 2009, two weeks after his childhood friend David Coleman Headley was held for his role in planning and executing the attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that killed 166 people.

"Getting Rana is a big deal from the point of view of ensuring justice for the victims of the Mumbai attacks," said an Indian official who declined to be named. "It brings some sense of closure at a time when Pakistan has failed to prosecute the main conspirators."

Rana was tried on three counts in the US — conspiracy to support terrorism in India and Denmark and providing support to LeT, a foreign terrorist organization. Simultaneously, India declared Rana a wanted person and issued an arrest warrant on August 28, 2018, on charges of involvement in conspiracy, waging war, a terrorist attack and committing murder.

India also sent an extradition request for Headley, but US authorities refused to give him up when he pleaded guilty to 12 terror-related charges, including multiple counts associated with the Mumbai carnage and the foiled plot in Denmark. Headley's plea bargain agreement included a non-extradition provision. "Headley was a double agent and US would never give him up," the official said.