Mumbai terror accused Rana loses last legal battle in US, apex court clears extradition to India
Washington, Jan 25 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has cleared Mumbai attack convict Tahawwur Rana's extradition to India, dismissing his review petition against the move.
India is seeking the extradition of Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, as he is wanted in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks case.
This was Rana’s last legal chance not to be extradited to India. Earlier, he lost a legal battle in several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco.
Rana on November 13 filed a “petition for a writ of certiorari” before the US Supreme Court. This was denied by the apex court on January 21, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the American President.
“Petition DENIED,” the Supreme Court said.
Rana, 64, is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
Earlier the US government had argued in the court that the petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied. US Solicitor General Elizabeth B Prelogar said this in its filing before the Supreme Court on December 16.
She said Rana was not entitled to relief from extradition to India in this case.
In his ‘petitions for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Rana had argued that he was tried and acquitted in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) on charges relating to the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai.
"India now seeks to extradite him for trial on charges based on the identical conduct at issue in the Chicago case,” it said.
“The government does not concede that all of the conduct on which India seeks extradition was covered by the government’s prosecution in this case. For example, India’s forgery charges are based in part on conduct that was not charged in the United States: petitioner’s use of false information in an application to formally open a branch office of the Immigration Law Center submitted to the Reserve Bank of India,” the US Solicitor General had said.
“It is not clear that the jury’s verdict in this case— which involves conspiracy charges and was somewhat difficult to parse — means that he has been “convicted or acquitted” on all of the specific conduct that India has charged,” Prelogar had said.
Rana is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.
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Indian visa application centre suspended indefinitely in Bangladesh's Chattogram
Dhaka (PTI): India on Sunday suspended visa operations at its mission in Bangladeshi port city of Chattogram until further notice, according to media reports.
The move comes in the wake of a fresh wave of unrest witnessed in the country following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram on Thursday.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
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He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 18.
“Due to the recent security incident at Assistant High Commission of India (AHCI) Chittagong, Indian visa operations at IVAC Chittagong (Chattogram) will remain suspended from 21/12/2025 until further notice,” the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) said in a brief statement.
The announcement for reopening the visa centre will be made after reviewing the situation, the statement added. The decision came into effect on Sunday.
There are five IVAC facilities across Bangladesh at Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet. An IVAC official told PTI that the other four offices have remained operational as of Sunday.
India on Thursday resumed operations at its visa application centre in Dhaka, a day after closing it over escalated security concerns, but closed for a brief period two other identical facilities in Rajshahi and Khulna as anti-India protestors tried to march towards the Indian missions there.
On Saturday, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh's Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that “no third party can exploit the situation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka - Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Earlier on December 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
“We expect the interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations,” it said.
The envoy was apprised of India's strong concerns about the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh, it added.
