Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the architect of the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes, is anticipated to arrive in India “soon,” news agency reported, referencing sources. As per Indian government sources, a team comprising multiple agencies from India has traveled to the US, where all the required paperwork and legal formalities are being finalized with US officials.
The news agency, referencing sources, stated there is a “very strong chance” that Rana “might be extradited soon.” Nonetheless, it is also recognized that he is not coming to India on Wednesday, since the extradition procedure is still ongoing.
As per a report , officials in Delhi and Mumbai have been instructed to quietly establish specific prison accommodations in accordance with directives from the US legal system regarding extradited persons.
Tahawwur Rana is expected to stay in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) during the initial weeks of his arrival. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval along with high-ranking officials from the home affairs ministry are vigilantly overseeing the complete extradition procedure, the report stated.
The significant development arrives shortly after Rana’s last effort to prevent his extradition was unsuccessful, as the US Supreme Court justices turned down his request — bringing him nearer to being transferred to Indian officials to stand trial for the horrific 26/11 attacks.
Rana, aged 64, who is presently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, submitted an ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus’ on February 27, 2025, to US Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan, the Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit.
Tahawwur Rana, a businessman of Pakistani-Canadian origin and a former military physician, has had longstanding ties with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, who was one of the key planners behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Rana’s purported connections, involving his ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, have been a source of tension between India and the US for many years.
In an order , the US Supreme Court said, “The application for stay addressed to The Chief Justice and referred to the Court is denied.” The emergency application was filed on March 20 by Rana with Chief Justice John Roberts.
This comes after a comparable dismissal in March by Justice Elena Kagan. His most recent appeal was distributed among the justices for evaluation during a meeting conducted on April 4.
Rana, a principal suspect in the 26/11 attacks, raised significant health concerns to challenge extradition. He asserted that his worsening health issues — such as an abdominal aortic aneurysm, Parkinson’s disease with cognitive decline, and a mass that might suggest bladder cancer — would jeopardize his life if returned to India. He also claimed that he was concerned about being singled out because of religious and cultural prejudice.
In February, US President Donald Trump announced Rana’s extradition at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that Rana would be sent to India to stand trial.
The government has revoked an essential transshipment facility given to Bangladesh, which enabled its export cargo to transit to third countries through Indian Land Customs Stations (LCSs), ports, and airports.
The action occurred shortly after Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, supported the expansion of the Chinese economy into the strategically crucial Northeast India area, referring to it as ‘landlocked’. The system, launched in June 2020, facilitated easier trade for Bangladeshi exports to countries like Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.
The decision was formalised through a circular issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on April 8. “It has been decided to rescind… circular…dated June 29, 2020, as amended with immediate effect. Cargo already entered into India may be allowed to exit the Indian territory as per the procedure given in that circular,” the notification stated.
Trade experts predict that the reversal of this facility will advantage multiple Indian export sectors, such as textiles, footwear, and gems and jewellery — fields where Bangladesh poses a strong challenge, especially in clothing.
During a recent four-day trip to China, Muhammad Yunus referred to India’s Northeast as ‘landlocked’ with “no access to the ocean”, positioning Bangladesh as the region’s primary maritime access point.
Positioning Dhaka as the “only guardian of the ocean” in South Asia, the Chief Adviser urged Beijing to deepen its economic footprint in Bangladesh.
“The seven states of India, the eastern part of India, are called the Seven Sisters. They are a landlocked region of India. They have no way to reach out to the ocean. So this opens up a huge possibility. This could be an extension of the Chinese economy,” Yunus had said at a high-level roundtable discussion in Beijing.
Responding to Yunus’s remarks, S Jaishankar and said India believes that cooperation is an integrated outlook, not one subject to cherry-picking.
“We, after all, have the longest coastline in the Bay of Bengal, of almost 6,500 km. India shares borders not only with the five BIMSTEC members, and connects most of them, but also provides much of the interface between the Indian sub-continent and ASEAN. Our North-Eastern region in particular is emerging as a connectivity hub for the BIMSTEC, with a myriad network of roads, railways, waterways, grids and pipelines,” the External Affairs Minister said
