26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Tahawwur Rana is one step closer to extradition to India after the US Supreme Court rejected his emergency stay application. Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, is wanted in India for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. After Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan refused to grant a stay on Rana’s extradition, his counsel lodged an emergency application previously addressed to Kagan requesting that the renewed application be placed before the Chief Justice of the America’s top court.
Rana had moved to the top US court for an emergency stay on his extradition to India, saying he would be tortured and killed in India because of his religious identity and social background. His application was denied by Justice Elena Kagen, after which his attorney appealed directly to the Chief Justice. “Application…denied by Justice Kagan,” a note dated March 6, 2025 on the Supreme Court website says.
Rana, 64, is currently lodged in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. He had filed an “Emergency Application For Stay” with the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit. Rana submitted to Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Elena Kagan.
Who Is Tahawwur Rana
Tahawwur Rana is a known associate of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the key conspirators behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Headley had visited Mumbai to gather photographs and intelligence on the Taj Hotel and other prime locations targeted in the attack. The November 26, 2008, attacks claimed 174 lives. Headley was convicted in the US for supporting the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and India has long sought his extradition. Rana claimed that ‘torture’ awaits him in India while challenging the Trump administration’s decree.
‘Tahawwur Rana will be going back to India,’ – Donald Trump
As Donald Trump returned to the White House, the US president confirmed Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India during a press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month. ‘Tahawwur Rana will be going back to India, where he will face justice,’ Trump stated. PM Modi also expressed his gratitude to Trump for this decision.
