A multiagency team from India is bringing 26/11 Mumbai terror attack key plotter Tahawwur Rana to India today, according to media sources.
Rana is co-conspirator in the attacks. He filed a plea in the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking a stay on his extradition to India. However, the court dismissed his petition.
CNN-News18 reported that shortly after the court denied Rana’s legal appeal against extradition to India, a multi-agency team from India traveled to the U.S. to bring the 26/11 accused to the country, government sources said on Wednesday.
The surrender warrant – a document for surrender to a foreign agency – has been executed, and the multi-agency team could land in India with Rana shortly, the report said citing sources.
“There is a very high possibility that Rana could be extradited to India shortly," sources said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently obtained court orders seeking the transfer of the case from Mumbai to Delhi. NIA could seek the custodial interrogation of Rana once he lands in India and is produced in court.
2008 Mumbai terror attacks
Rana, wanted in India for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, was arrested in the U.S. in 2009 for his involvement in terror-related activities.
India had sought the extradition of Rana to face trial for his role in the Mumbai terror attacks that killed over 150 people.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in February this year, President Donald Trump announced Rana’s extradition to India, describing him as “one of the plotters and one of the very evil people of the world".
“Tahawwur Rana will be going back to India, where he will face justice," Trump said at the press conference alongside PM Modi.
Rana’s appeal in U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied the review plea seeking an emergency stay on his extradition to India.
Rana had approached chief justice John G Roberts Jr after the Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan declined to hear his plea on March 6.
In his first plea, Rana had claimed that he would likely be tortured in India as he was a Muslim of Pakistani origin and also an ex-Pakistani army officer.
Statement in Parliament
External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said in a statement in Parliament during the Budget Session on April 4 and said that India and the U.S. have been engaged in the case and are working closely for Rana’s swift extradition.
“During the visit of Prime Minister to Washington DC on February 13, 2025, the U.S. Administration conveyed that it had approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana to India," the government had said in the Parliament.
Jaishankar on Wednesday welcomed the US Supreme Court's decision to extradite Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, to India.
Speaking at the News 18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025, he said, “There's nothing really new that I can say on the Tahawwur Rana issue. Obviously, we welcome the decision of the American legal process."
