Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who has been convicted in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks case, has lost his last legal option in the US to avoid extradition to India. The Supreme Court in the US approved Rana’s extradition on Saturday as it dismissed the terror convict’s review request against his conviction. This clears the way for India to extradite the terror mastermind and bring him to justice.
Besides Rana, India is trying to bring back several other offenders who had turned fugitive to escape the laws back home. The government said last month that of all the fugitives, one-third are hiding in the US, which has become a “safe haven” for criminals and terrorists.
Here’s a list of 5 key extradition battles being fought by the country abroad:
Tahawwur Hussain Rana
Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, is wanted for his role in the Mumbai attacks in which over 160 people were killed. A former military doctor who has served in the Pakistan Army, he had prior knowledge of the 2008 attacks. He was arrested in 2009 for a terror plot in Denmark. Apart from this case, he has been convicted of helping Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) with material support. In the latest update, the US Supreme Court has cleared his extradition to India.
Read: US Supreme Court Clears 26/11 Convict Tahawwur Rana’s Extradition To India
Arsh Dalla
Khalistani terrorist Arshdeep Singh Gill alia Arsh Dalla, the de-facto leader of the banned outfit Khalistan Tiger Force, is based in Canada. He is wanted in India in over 50 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and terrorist acts. He was designed a “terrorist” in January, 2004. Sources suggest he has been in touch with the Pakistani spy agency ISI. Dalla was arrested last October after he was injured in an attack. Since then, India has been trying to extradite him, but he secured a bail in December.
Read: Khalistani Terrorist Arsh Dalla Gets Bail In Canada Amid India’s Push For Extradition
Anmol Bishnoi
Anmol Bishnoi is the younger brother of Lawrence Bishnoi, who runs the dreaded Bishnoi gang from a jail in Gujarat. He is wanted in India for several high-profile cases, including murders of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala and politician Baba Siddique. Anmol was arrested in US last November for entering the country without valid documents. Intelligence sources had indicated there was no possibility for him to extradited so soon despite custody request from Delhi.
Read: Chilling History Of Squirrel Cage Jail, Where Anmol Bishnoi Is Lodged
Vijay Mallya
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who faces a loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore, left India in 2016 and is currently in the UK. He is wanted in India for fraud after the collapse of his now-defunct company Kingfisher Airlines. He was declared a fugitive in 2019. India is in a long legal fight for the custody of Mallya, which is unlikely to end anytime soon. Back home, a CBI court issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against him last year in a separate Rs 180 crore loan default case.
Nirav Modi
Diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are the key accused in the Rs 14,000 crore PNB loan fraud case. The two are being probed over an alleged nexus with the bank officials that helped them with the fraud. Nirav Modi left the country in 2018 and was arrested in London the same year. Lodged in a UK jail now, he has lost all his petitions against extradition to India so far. Mehul Choksi is now in Antigua.
Besides, there is a list of several other offenders that India is trying to bring back. The list includes Sanjay Bhandari, an arms deal consultant, who is in the UK and faces charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
Sourabh Chandrakar, promoter of the Mahadev betting app, is also facing extradition over money laundering charges after his arrest in Dubai in 2023. It was reported then that he has been kept under “house detention” amid efforts by Indian agencies to secure his deportation.