Maha, Centre to discuss terror-accused Tahawwur Rana’s extradition (Ld)
Mumbai, June 20 (IANS) The Maharashtra government will discuss with the Central government the extradition process of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was linked with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said here on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters, Deshmukh said that another accused, David Coleman Headley, had in his statement recorded with the investigators revealed that he was working as an ‘agent’ of Rana in the 26/11 terror attacks.
“Now, we shall discuss the matter with senior police officers in Maharashtra as well as the Centre regarding Rana’s extradition formalities,” the minister added.
Canadian businessman and former Pakistan army doctor, Rana was re-arrested in Los Angeles on the request of the Indian authorities. Rana was recently released from jail after he was found to be suffering from Covid-19. On June 10, Rana was picked up by the police in LA, re-arrested and sent to jail.
Said to be linked with Pakistan’s ISI, the arrest was made at India’s request as per the 1997 Extradition Treaty between India and USA, US officials said.
Rana was earlier convicted by a US court in 2013 which had awarded him a 14-year jail term, and he was serving the sentence at the San Pedro prison in California.
He was scheduled to be released next year after serving nine years in jail, but now after his re-arrest, a US District Judge in California has fixed his case for hearing on June 30.
Among other things, Rana — born in Chichawatni in Punjab region of Pakistan — acquired his medical degree from the Cadet College Hasan Abdal, a military college in that country.
It was during his college days that he met Headley, who later became a major ISI operative, and Rana served as a doctor with Pakistan Army Medical Corps.
He and his wife migrated to Canada in 1997 and later became citizens of that country in 2001, and were later living in Chicago.
Headley, 60, a Pakistani-born US citizen, and accused of plotting the Mumbai terror strikes, is currently serving a 35-year jail term in a US jail since 2013.
–IANS
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