Mumbai Police files 5th chargesheet against 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana, others

Mumbai Police's crime branch has filed the fifth chargesheet in the 26/11 terror attacks case of 2008. The authorities have named Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana and others in the latest 405-page document filed by the Mumbai crime branch.

Tahawwur Rana is a Canada-based trader of Pakistani origin and is currently detained in the United States. India has sought Rana's extradition, who was also an ex-army captain of Pakistan, on charges of forgery and criminal breach of trust as he had allegedly used his immigration entity in the US to forge and make documents that were used by 26/11 terror attacks' mastermind David Headley in conducting recce for the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, in July 2016, had said that Tahawwur Rana was his associate and a Pakistani native who operated an immigration business in Chicago and that Rana was aware that he was an operative of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Tahawwur Rana's Extradition to India

In June this year, Rana challenged an American court order that acceded to the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

Tahawwur Rana's writ of habeas corpus was denied by a US court later, in August this year, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certificate for him to be extradited to India. Here, Rana is facing trial for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

During his probe in the case in America, the US attorneys had shed light on discrepancies in Rana's statements to the local court. In his submission to the US Court on June 23, the US attorney argued that Rana’s claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai fell flat.

"The evidence does not support Rana’s assertion that the Mumbai office conducted legitimate business. Rana’s claims about who funded the Mumbai office also do not relate to whether Rana lacked knowledge of and support for David Headley’s activities," the US attorney for the Central District of California, in his petition filed before the US District Court for the Central District of California said.

"Even if Rana hoped to continue business operations in Mumbai, the evidence reveals that neither Rana nor Headley renewed the business lease that expired approximately two weeks before the start of the Mumbai attacks,” the US attorney had pointed out.

2008 Mumbai terror attacks

More than 160 people, including 18 police officers and two NSG commandos, were killed in a terror attack which lasted for nearly 60 hours from November 26, 2008. Around 310 others were injured in the prolonged terrorist attack that stunned the country.

Ten Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, trained by Pakistani agencies, left Karachi for Mumbai via sea. They entered India three days later on November 26, hijacking a ship owned by Indian fishermen and killing them en route.

The terrorists opened fire, targeting high-profile places including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Taj Hotel at the Gateway of India, Cafe Leopold, Chabad House, Rang Bhavan Lane near Cama Hospital and St Xavier's College.

Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist to be captured alive. He was tried and sentenced to death in May 2010. Kasab was hanged at the Yerawada jail in Pune in November 2012.