26/11 Attack Mastermind Husain Rana May Be Deported To India In 2021 As Team Trump Is Helping With Paperwork

Informed sources in Washington have said that Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Pakistani Canadian, who was instrumental in plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, has a strong chance of being extradited to India in 2021 when he finishes his term, reports The New Indian Express.

Rana, aged 58, was a resident of Chicago, who was arrested in 2009 on the charges of plotting the 26/11 terror attack and is currently serving a 14-year jail term in the US.

Reports say the Indian government, with full co-operation from Trump administration, is working to complete the necessary paperwork for the extradition.

India is not seeking extradition of Rana on the charges for which he is already serving his jail sentence due to the double jeopardy clause in the US justice system, which prohibits punishing a person for the same crime twice. Thus, India is seeking extradition due to his involvement in the planned attacks on National Defence College and Chabad Houses in several cities along with a registered forgery case.

The two sides (India's Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Law and Justice and the US State Department and the Department of Justice) were not willing to speed up their processes for extradition. But after a visit by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) team, both sides have agreed to cut down on bureaucratic procedures to make sure the paperwork is ready before the jail term of Rana ends in December 2021. The NIA received guidance from their US counterpart in this issue to meet American legal guidelines.

In case the paperwork is not done, the American officials say its tough to extradite Rana after his jail release since he would be deported to Canada, as he is a citizen of that country. But officials in the loop say that the Trump administration desires to finish the paperwork, since Rana’s extradition to India would cement the two country’s relationship, boost counter-terrorism co-operation and enhance America's image among Indians.

The Trump administration reiterated its revolve in this regard in November 2018, the attack’s 10th anniversary.