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Live Updates: Lawyer behind 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana's US extradition to lead prosecution in India

Everyone involved in 26/11 attacks conspiracy must face court of justice, says Tharoor

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday welcomed the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 case, and said everyone associated with the conspiracy of the Mumbai terror attacks must face the court of justice.He also described Rana's extradition as a "step forward for justice".

Rana will definitely get convicted in India, possibly given death sentence: Ex-home secretary

Mumbai terror attacks accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who is being extradited to India from the US, will definitely get convicted in the country possibly with a death sentence for his involvement in the dastardly terrorist act, former home secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai said on Thursday. He said Rana was an associate of David Colemon Headley, who played a much significant role in the 26/11 attacks.

All 26/11 attacks case accused should get capital punishment, says ex-cop whose team caught Kasab

A former police officer, whose team had caught terrorist Ajmal Kasab during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, on Thursday said all the accused involved in the conspiracy of the 26/11 case should be tried by courts in India and given capital punishment.Talking to PTI, retired officer Hemant Bavdhankar congratulated the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the successful extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, one of the key conspirators of the 26/11 attacks, to India.

"Not only me, but all the Indians have a feeling that the accused involved in the 26/11 terror attacks should get capital punishment after a trial in India," he said.

"If we are able to punish all the accused persons who were involved in the Mumbai terror attacks conspiracy, our martyrs and innocent citizens who were killed or injured in the attack, will get justice. This is what I feel," Bavdhankar said.

Pak says it has nothing to do with 'Canadian national' Tahawwur Rana

Pakistan on Thursday said that it has nothing to do with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana, asserting that he is a Canadian national and has not renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades.Born in Pakistan in 1961, Rana served in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps, before migrating in the 1990s to Canada, where he was given citizenship.

"He is a Canadian national and as per our record he has not renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades," Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said while responding to a question during his weekly press briefing here.

Lawyer behind 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana's US extradition to lead prosecution in India

New Delhi: Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, who led India's arguments for the extradition of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana in a US court, is set to lead the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) prosecution in Delhi.

Rana, a close associate of 26/11 main conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen, is learnt to be on his way to India after the US Supreme Court on April 4 dismissed his review plea against his extradition to India.

Krishnan, who has been associated with the extradition proceedings since 2010, will have assistance from Special Prosecutor Narender Mann, a seasoned criminal lawyer, who has earlier represented the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Delhi High Court.

The prosecution team will also comprise advocates Sanjeevi Sheshadri and Sridhar Kale aside from the NIA counsel, it is learnt.

The turning point in the extradition case came in May 2023. Rana's trial had begun in 2018.

"The most important decision of his extradition came on May 16, 2023, being the first judgment by the Magistrate Judge, US District Court of Central District of California," said a source close to the extradition proceedings.

The Magistrate Court while allowing the extradition confirmed Krishnan's opinion -- he argued that Rana's case was not of double jeopardy.

The proceedings, the source said, saw a spirited legal fight between Krishnan and another extradition veteran Paul Garlick QC, who was representing Rana.

Garlick, the source said, argued that it was a case of double jeopardy. Krishnan, on the contrary, argued that an accused's conduct didn't determine the circumstances but the elements of the crime.

Double jeopardy, in legal parlance, means an accused being punished twice for the same offence or crime.

The submissions of Krishnan, who represented the government of India along with the US Department of Justice, were accepted by the court.

The second crucial milestone for the Indian government came when Rana's appeal was dismissed by a US District Judge on August 10, 2023.

Following the dismissal of his appeal, Rana moved the US Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, but was faced with another setback for his plea was rejected on August 15, 2024, the source said.

Rana, 64, a Pakistan-born Canadian national, then moved the US Supreme Court, which denied him any reprieve on January 21, 2025.

Finally, on April 4, the US Supreme Court dismissed the review plea filed by Rana as a last-ditch attempt, finally paving the way for his extradition, the source added.

On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack in Mumbai's CST, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India's financial capital using the sea route in the Arabian Sea. The three-day terror siege killed 166 people. 

Tahawwur Rana's hanging would be tight slap to Pakistan: Former NSG Commando

Surender Singh, former National Security Guard (NSG) commando, part of the operation during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, welcomed the extradition of terror accused Tahawwur Rana, saying that his hanging would be a "tight slap" to Pakistan and terrorism.

Tahawwur Rana lands in India

A special flight carrying Tahawwur Rana, 26/11 mumbai attacks accused landed in Delhi. He will be taken to NIA Headquarters 

'Country has not forgotten that barbaric violence': RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha on 26/11 Mumbai attacks

RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha said, "This is welcome. The country has not forgotten that barbaric violence. Action should also be taken against the 'economic fugitives'... There should be no leniency in taking action against them either..."

He called for strict action against not just criminals like Rana but also "economic fugitives."

Delhi: Visuals from outside Air Force Station, Palam.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is being brought to India from the US on a special flight.

Don't give special treatment, biryani to Rana: Tea seller who helped 26/11 victims

A tea seller who helped many people escape the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks has said accused Tahawwur Rana should not be given any special treatment, like biryani or a separate cell, and demanded that he be hanged to death.

Talking to PTI, Mohammed Taufiq, also known as 'Chotu Chai Wala', also demanded stricter laws in the country to deal with terrorists.

Taufiq was operating his tea stall at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai when it came under attack from terrorists in November 2008. He recounted seeing people dying in front of his eyes during the assault.

He had then alerted a large number of people, guided them towards a safe direction at the station to escape from the attack and rushed many of the injured persons to hospital.

"There is no need to provide a separate cell, or biryani and other facilities to Tahawwur Rana, like those given to Ajmal Kasab (the lone terrorist from the Pakistani group captured alive)," Taufiq said.

Notably, Kasab's demand for mutton biryani in jail was just a myth and was "concocted" to stop an "emotional wave" which was being created in favour of the militant, Ujjwal Nikam, public prosecutor in the case, said in 2015.

"Kasab never demanded biryani and was never served by the government. I concocted it just to break an emotional atmosphere which was taking shape in favour of Kasab during the trial of the case," Nikam had said.

Tahawwur Rana, 64, is being brought to India after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition failed as the US Supreme Court justices rejected his application. He is expected to reach New Delhi on Thursday.

He is likely to be lodged in a high-security ward in Tihar jail in New Delhi when he reaches India.

Taufiq expressed gratitude to the US government and President Donald Trump for extraditing Rana to India.

"There should be a strict law in India also for terrorists. Rana being brought to India is a good news for us, but he should be hanged publicly within 15 days or in two-three months," the tea seller said.

"There is no need to give any special treatment to such people and spend crores of rupees on them like we did on Kasab. I will celebrate once Rana is given death penalty. He should be hanged to death before anyone tries to save him," Taufiq said.

The government has provided help to the victims but money cannot bring back anyone's life, he added.