Terrorists pushing limits to hit aviation sector: Rajnath
New Delhi, Oct 9: Recalling the 2009 "underwear bomber", who attempted to blow up an Amsterdam-Detroit flight mid-air, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Tuesday terrorists are pushing their "limits" and "underpants" to attack global civil aviation operations.
Singh also said closer to home, ensuring security of about 40 small airports and heliports in India is a subject that cannot be "ignored".
"The civil aviation sector is highly sensitive and high profile in nature. It also gets worldwide attention when hit by any attack. Often these incidents have geopolitical ramifications," he said after inaugurating a two-day seminar on 'international aviation security' here.
"The case of the shoe bomber in 2001, the use of liquid explosives in London in 2006 and the case of the underwear bomber in Amsterdam in 2009, clearly indicate that terrorists are pushing the limits and even their underpants to hit the aviation sector," Singh said.
On Christmas Day in 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a commercial plane for the al-Qaeda, but was badly burned when a bomb sewn into his underwear failed to detonate fully on-board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Farouk earned the nicknames of underwear bomber and Christmas Day bomber.
The minister also asked aviation security agencies in the country to undertake "perspective planning" to thwart possible terror-like threats to aviation facilities.
Security agencies such as the CISF should undertake "untiring and sincere efforts to maintain fool-proof security" at airports, which are thronged by lakhs of travellers daily, Singh said.
The seminar is being organised by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a federal force that guards 60 civil airports at present. It is being attended by delegates from 18 countries and several airlines.
Civil aviation security continues to be an extremely challenging task as the sector remains an important target for terror outfits. Terrorists always look for opportunities to draw maximum attention and media coverage, he said.
Subsequently, Singh spoke about the domestic scenario.
"There are 40 other operational airports and heliports under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) in India, which are guarded by airport security units carved out from the respective state police forces.
"The strength of any claim is determined by the strength of its smallest unit, therefore the security of the smaller airports should never be ignored," Singh said.
Officials said while there has been a talk of deploying CISF personnel at airports under the RCS or UDAN scheme, no "final decision" has been taken.
These facilities continue to be guarded by state police forces, which are not as professional as the central force, in rendering aviation security duties, they said.
The minister said the attacks on the Brussels and Istanbul airports (in 2016) have shown the vulnerability of airports, especially from the city side, and it highlights new threats to aviation facilities.
"There have been several terror attacks on the aviation sector till date, the most devastating being the September 2001 attack (in the US) that shocked the world..." he said.
Singh said it was essential to innovate and think new to meet evolving threats to aviation security.
"We have come up with an adequate set of infrastructure at airports which commensurate with the increased number of air passengers. But, there are still many challenges and vulnerabilities. Therefore, we need perspective planing, more international cooperation and better coordination," he said.
"We should adhere to stricter implementation of internationally agreed guidelines and norms, and induction of updated advanced technology in all airports would enhance our security capabilities, Singh said.
"The governments and aviation agencies have to increasingly think about newer methods to tackle conventional and un-conventional threats," he added.
The home minister spoke about some legal measures taken by his government to ensure safety in the aviation sector.
"We have upgraded our anti-hijacking mechanisms since 1999 by refining our strengths and rectifying our weaknesses. Keeping the threat of aircraft hijacking by terrorists in mind, India has reviewed its preparedness towards such exigencies," he said.
Singh said the CISF has undertaken untiring and sincere efforts to maintain fool-proof security at the airports under its guard.
The 9/11 (2001 attack on the twin towers in the US) and the Kandahar (hijack of an Indian Airlines flight in 1999) have taught us many lessons, he said.
The CISF was entrusted with airports security in the 2000, in the aftermath of the Kandahar incident.
The force was raised in 1969 and has about 1.45 lakh personnel in its ranks at present. About 22,000 of the total CISF personnel are deployed for airport security duties across the country.
The minister advised all stakeholders, especially the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (the national aviation security regulator) and the CISF, to infuse new technology for aviation security and ensure a judicious blend of trained human resources and modern security infrastructure.
Fool-proof security warrants cooperation between different stakeholders, he said.
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US SC rejects 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking stay on his extradition to India
New York, Apr 7 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice.
Rana, 64, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles.
He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
Rana had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.
Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.
Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been “distributed for Conference” on April 4 and the “application” has been “referred to the Court.”
A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said that “Application denied by the Court.”
Rana was convicted in the US of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashker-e-Taiba which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.
New York-based Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra had told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6. The application was then submitted before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”
The Supreme Court justices are Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of his February 13.
In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates US law and the UN Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture."
"The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.
The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto" death sentence in this case.
The US Supreme Court denied Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21. The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on February 12 to meet with Trump, Rana’s counsel received a letter from the Department of State, stating that “on February 11, 2025, the Secretary of State decided to authorise” Rana’s "surrender to India,” pursuant to the “Extradition Treaty between the United States and India”.
Rana’s Counsel requested from the State Department the complete administrative record on which Secretary Rubio based his decision to authorize Rana’s surrender to India.
The Counsel also requested immediate information of any commitment the United States has obtained from India with respect to Rana’s treatment. “The government declined to provide any information in response to these requests,” the application said.
It added that given Rana’s underlying health conditions and the State Department’s findings regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India".
During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February, President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.
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 in Mumbai.
