A Pakistani business from Chicago who was wanted in India for his part in the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008 has been remanded in prison for 18 weeks.
Tahawwur Rana, a member of Canada, made his landing in Delhi on Thursday. His extradition was successful, according to India’s National Investigation Agency ( NIA ).
American officials accuse 64-year-old Rana of aiding the Mumbai problems by working with youth colleague David Headley to back Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani organization responsible for the attack.
166 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured when 10 militants launched fatal attacks across Mumbai on November 26, 2008, before being stopped by security causes on November 29.
When the NIA arrived in Delhi on Thursday night, Rana was being detained and extradited from the US.
Difficulty of journalists were pursuing him as he was led to a special prosecutor while he was being held under heavy protection.
The NIA announced on Friday that it would interview Rana “in particular to find out the full premise of the fatal 2008 problems.”
The trial in the case will now be led by India’s home ministry’s well-known attorney Narendra Mann.
Rana or his attorneys have not yet made any public remarks.
Rana was scheduled to stand trial in India on 10 legal charges stemming from his alleged role in the strikes, according to a media release from the US Embassy in Delhi on Friday.
The abduction of Rana is” a significant step in the fight for justice for the six Americans and countless other patients who were killed in the terrible problems,” it said.
In 2011, a US court found Rana guilty of supporting the Lashkar-e-Taiba but found him guilty of instantly plotting the problems.
He was given a 14-year jail sentence in 2013 but was released on health grounds in 2020. Later that month, after India requested his abduction, he was arrested again.
Rana was extradited in the US in 2023, but he remained in custody while awaiting final federal approval.
Following a conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February, President Donald Trump gave his approval for the move. Rana’s pertains against the ruling were eventually rejected by the US Supreme Court.
According to US prosecutors in the case, Rana authorized Headley to set up an office in Mumbai at his Chicago-based immigration services company in 2006, which he then used as support to search for the 2008 attacks.
The NIA has brought charges against Rana that include violence, war against the American government, and criminal conspiracy.