2008 Mumbai attack: US opposes Tahawwur Rana’s petition challenging extradition to India

The United States government has urged a court in California to dismiss a petition filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana in which he has challenged his extradition to India in connection with the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, PTI reported on Thursday.

Rana’s extradition to India was approved by a US court on May 17. In 2011, he was convicted in the US for providing material support to the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. However, he was found not guilty of conspiracy charges in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attack.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists took a sea route from Pakistan to Mumbai and carried out a dozen coordinated shooting and bombing attacks at various major landmarks across the city. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 166 persons, including 26 foreigners.

Indian authorities have alleged that Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Lashkar-e-Taiba in the orchestration of the Mumbai attacks.

The prosecutors in the case also said that Rana’s immigration law centre in Chicago, as well as a branch office in Mumbai, was allegedly used as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba’s terrorism activities between 2006 and 2008.

Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, while allowing Rana’s extradition to India, had said that he has been charged in India with waging war against the...

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