US President Donald Trump said the US has agreed to extradite 2008 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India. The main accused in the 26/11 terror attack is currently in a high-security prison in the US and India has been trying to extradite him for years.
“We are handing over to India a very dangerous man, an accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks,” President Trump said.
As recently as January 21, 2025, the US Supreme Court rejected Tahawwur Rana’s review petition, paving the way for his extradition to India. “In light of the recent Supreme Court decision and consistent with applicable US law, the State Department is currently evaluating the next steps in this case,” the US State Department said.
“We have long supported India’s efforts to ensure justice is served for the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks,” the statement added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated the US position on the extradition of terror suspects and thanked President Trump for confirming his extradition. “A Mumbai terror attack convict will be extradited to India for questioning and trial. I thank President Trump for expediting the process.”
Pakistani-origin businessman Tahawar Hussain Rana, who was convicted for his role in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai that killed 164 people, is now being questioned by Indian agencies and will face trial in India.
Rana was aware of the Mumbai terror attacks and had contacts with terrorist groups and their leaders in Pakistan. David Coleman Headley was among Rana’s co-conspirators. Headley pleaded guilty and supported Rana against him.
Rana has been accused of having close ties with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
A 400-page chargesheet issued by the Mumbai Police states that Tahawar Hussain Rana arrived in India on November 11, 2008, and stayed there until November 21. He spent two of these days at the Renaissance Hotel in Powai, Mumbai.
The Mumbai Crime Branch had found email communications between Headley and Rana. In one of the emails related to the 26/11 terror attacks, David Headley inquired about the email ID of Major Iqbal.
Major Iqbal, an operative of Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was named as an accused in the 26/11 terror attacks case.
Rana was previously indicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit terrorism in the second count. The jury convicted him on count 11 (conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism in Denmark). The jury also found Rana guilty on count 12 of providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba.
On November 26, 2008, a horrific terrorist attack on the famous Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai killed 166 people, including 20 security personnel and 26 foreigners, and injured more than 300.
