A Pakistan-born Canadian citizen wanted for his role in the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege landed in New Delhi on Thursday (10) after his extradition from the US, Indian law enforcement said.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 64, arrived at a military airbase outside the Indian capital under heavily armed guard, and will be held in detention to face trial.
India accuses Rana of being a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, designated by the United Nations as a terrorist organisation, and of helping to plot the attacks.
The National Investigation Agency said it "secured the successful extradition of... Mumbai terror attack mastermind Tahawwur Rana from the US".
The extradition took "years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem to justice".
US president Donald Trump announced in February that Washington would extradite Rana, who he called "one of the very evil people in the world".
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Thursday that the US was "proud" that Rana was now in Indian custody over the "horrific" attack.
"The US has long supported India's efforts to ensure those responsible for these attacks are brought to justice, and as President Trump has said, the United States and India will continue to work together to combat the global scourge of terrorism," Bruce told reporters.
Rana was flown to India after the US Supreme Court this month rejected his bid to remain in the United States, where he was serving a sentence related to another LeT-linked attack.
New Delhi blamed the LeT group -- as well as intelligence officials from New Delhi's arch-enemy Pakistan -- for the 2008 Mumbai attacks when 10 Islamist gunmen carried out a multi-day slaughter in the country's financial capital.
India accuses Rana of helping his longterm friend, David Coleman Headley, who was sentenced by a US court in 2013 to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to aiding LeT militants, including by scouting target locations in Mumbai.
Rana, who denies the charges, is accused of playing a smaller role than Headley, but India maintains he is one of the key plotters.
Rana "is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley, and operatives of designated (Pakistan-based) terrorist organisations LeT and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami... to carry out the devastating terror attacks," the NIA said in the statement.
Rana, a former military medic who served in Pakistan's army, emigrated to Canada in 1997, before moving to the United States and setting up businesses in Chicago, including a law firm and a slaughterhouse.
He was arrested by US police in 2009.
A US court in 2013 acquitted Rana of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks. But the same court convicted him of backing LeT to provide material support to a plot to commit murder in Denmark.
Rana was sentenced to 14 years for his involvement in a conspiracy to attack the offices of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which had published cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
In February, Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra state which includes the megacity Mumbai, said that "finally, the long wait is over and justice will be done".
(AFP)
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, in Scunthorpe, northern England, Britain, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Dominic Lipinski
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. (Representational image: iStock)
FBU chief raises concern over rise in racist online posts by union members
THE FIRE Brigades Union (FBU) and other trade unions are increasingly concerned about a rise in racist and bigoted online comments by their own members and officials, according to Steve Wright, the FBU’s new general secretary, speaking to the Guardian.
Wright said internal inquiries have revealed dozens of cases involving members using racist slurs or stereotypes, often aimed at asylum seekers.
He said similar issues were reported in other unions, prompting a joint campaign to counter false narratives around immigration and race promoted by far-right groups online.
“People with far-right views are becoming more brazen in what they do on social media, and I’ve witnessed it with my own union around disciplinary cases and the rhetoric of some of our own members,” Wright said to the newspaper.
He added, “Some of our members and sometimes our reps have openly made comments which are racist and bigoted. In my time in the fire service, that has gone up.”
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. A formal statement addressing far-right narratives will be launched at the union’s annual conference in Blackpool next month.
Wright cited the influence of social media and figures like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage as factors contributing to these incidents. “It feels like an itch that we’ve got to scratch,” he said.
The FBU barred a former official last year for allegedly endorsing racist content on X, including posts from Britain First and Tommy Robinson.
Wright also warned that the union could strike if the government moves to cut frontline fire services.