Washington, April 9: Pakistan-origin 26/11 plotter Tahawwur Rana, whose appeal to block his extradition to India was rejected by the US Supreme Court earlier in the week, is no longer in the custody of the US Bureau of Prisons as of Wednesday.
It could not be immediately confirmed if he was on the way to India. “Not in BOP Custody as of: 04/08/2025,” said the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ website search for inmates.
Earlier in the week, Rana’s extradition was cleared by the US Supreme Court. “Application (…) denied by the Court,” read the court’s docket as updated on Monday. A response was awaited from the US Department of Justice, whose Office of International Affairs works with foreign authorities for the actual handover.
Rana had tried to stop his extradition, citing fears of torture with the example of a UK case. A man convicted of money laundering was prevented from being extradited by a London upholding his fears of torture. If that person “could not be extradited to India because he was likely to be tortured, the petitioner is even more likely to be tortured and similarly should not be extradited”, Tillman J. Finley, counsel to Rana, said in the application.
The application was rejected by Justice Elena Kagan in March. Rana went on appeal and to Chief Justice John Roberts and the matter was posted for conference on Friday. The justices’ verdict was posted on Monday.
Rana is wanted in India for helping David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American found guilty by a US jury of scoping out the targets hit by the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in 2008. Although he was acquitted by a US jury of providing material support for the attacks, he was found guilty of two other charges for which he was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.
Due to failing health in the aftermath of the Covid-19 epidemic, he was ordered to be freed from jail. But he was rearrested for extradition to India. Headley had secured himself a guarantee against extradition in a plea deal with US authorities.
Rana appealed against his extradition and had now exhausted his legal options, with his appeal to the Chief Justice being denied. President Donald Trump had announced his extradition to India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House in February. Rana had subsequently gone to the Supreme Court to stop his extradition.
IANS
