Tahawwur Rana has been sent to 18-day NIA custody, during which the agency will interrogate him about the conspiracy behind 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Tahawwur Rana allegedly told his friend David Headley that the Mumbai attackers deserved Pakistan’s highest military honor, Nishan-e-Haider. He also remarked that “Indians deserved it” after the attacks.

Hours after Tahawwur Rana, accused of playing a big role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India, fresh images have emerged of US Marshals handing him over to Indian authorities for extradition. 

The US Justice Department released photos of Rana, clad in a beige prison-issued uniform and flanked by US Marshals, being delivered into the custody of representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs at a secure location on April 9. 

Between November 26 and 29, 2008, ten gunmen trained by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) unleashed a wave of coordinated terror across Mumbai.

Rana has been accused of playing a role in laying the groundwork for the attacks – not as a trigger-puller, but as an enabler operating in the shadows. Rana allegedly used his Chicago-based immigration business as a front to enable childhood friend and co-conspirator David Coleman Headley – born Daood Gilani – to travel freely to India under fraudulent documents.

Details to follow.