As the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana is set to land in India, Pakistan's first reaction to extradition has come with the Pakistani Foreign Office distancing itself from the key accused in one of the most horrific terror attacks on India. In its statement, the Pakistan Foreign Office stated, “Tahawwur Rana has not renewed his Pakistani documents in the last two decades. His Canadian nationality is very clear."
Why has Pakistan separated itself from Rana?
Pakistan is distancing itself as Tahawwur Rana's links to the Pakistan Army as well as the ISI is an open secret, and Islamabad fears Rana could spill the beans on Pakistan’s role in conspiring the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.
Born in Pakistan in 1961, Rana served in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps, before migrating in the 1990s to Canada, where he was given citizenship.
Though the spokesperson stopped short of providing details of "documents", such documents often include a national identity card for overseas Pakistanis and a passport.
Rana is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
Rana to be kept in Tihar Jail
Rana, who is being extradited from the US, is likely to be lodged in a high-security ward in Tihar jail here when he reaches India, prison sources said on Wednesday. Necessary preparations have been made for lodging him in jail, and the prison authorities will wait for the court order, they said.
Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian national, was convicted in the US for his active role in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks, as he provided material support to the group responsible for the terrorist attacks that killed over 174 people.
Rana's extradition comes as a significant step in the pursuit of justice for the victims of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The central government has appointed advocate Narender Mann as a Special Public Prosecutor to conduct the trials and other matters related to the NIA case.
(With inputs from agencies)