Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Rana brought to India from the US

The Pakistani-born Canadian citizen Tahawwur Rana has been brought back to India from the United States (US) to face trial for his role in plotting the terror attack on Mumbai on 26 November 2008. A special plane brought Rana from the US and landed at the Palam Airport in New Delhi on 10 April 2025.

Tahawwur Rana was extradited from the US after his plea against extradition to India was dismissed by the United States Supreme Court.

The arrest of Tahawwur Rana will shed light on the role of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) in the Mumbai terror attack.

He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on his arrival in India.

Background to the Tahawwur Rana case

The Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba sent 10  Pakistani terrorists to Mumbai to carry out a terrorist attack at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, CST Railway Station, and Chabad House locations in Mumbai. 166 people were killed, including six Americans, in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The sole surviving terrorist, Ajmal Kasab of Pakistan, was later convicted by the courts in India and was hanged.

David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana were named key conspirators in the Mumbai terror attack.

Pakistani Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and his brother-in-law of Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, who is a key financier of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, are yet to be arrested.

Arrest in the US and role in the Mumbai and Denmark terror attacks 

In 2009, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States arrested Pakistani-born American terrorist David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana for plotting an attack in Mumbai and Denmark.

David Coleman turned approver and provided a detailed account of the Mumbai terror conspiracy and the role of Tahawwur Rana.

Tahawwur Rana denied his role in the attack. The court in the US held him guilty of Denmark conspiracy and sentenced him to 14 years in jail. However, the court acquitted him of conspiracy charges in the Mumbai terror attack.

 According to David Coleman's testimony, Tahawwur Rana helped David Coleman Headley in conducting reconnaissance of Mumbai for the future terror..

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has accused Tahawwur Rana as a key conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

In 2020, the NIA requested the extradition of Tahawwur Rana from the US and after a prolonged legal battle in the United States he was finally extradiated to India.

Who Is Tahawwur Rana?

The 64-year-old Tahawwur Rana was born in the Sahiwal district of Punjab province in Pakistan.

He was a medical officer in the Pakistani Army and later migrated to Canada and became a Canadian citizen.

Later, he migrated to the United States, where he set up the First World Immigration Services company. 

This company provided a cover to David Coleman Headley, who was a schoolmate of Rana in Pakistan, to regularly visit India and do reconnaissance of Mumbai to select targets for future terrorist attacks.

Where will the trial take place?

The case against Tahawwur Rana will be pursued by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). 

The Union Home Minister has appointed senior advocate Narendra Mann as a special pubic prosecutor of the NIA in this case.

The trial against Tahawwur Rana will take place at a special NIA court in Delhi.