Tavur Hussain Rana, convicted in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks case, has lost his last legal option in the US to avoid extradition to India. The Supreme Court in the US on Saturday approved Rana’s extradition as it rejected a review request against his terror conviction. This clears the way for India to extradite the terrorist mastermind and bring him to justice.
Apart from Rana, India is trying to bring back several other criminals who had turned fugitive to evade laws back home. The government said last month that of all fugitives, a third were hiding in the US, which has become a “safe haven” for criminals and terrorists.
Here is a list of 5 major extradition battles being fought by the country abroad:
Taavur Hussain Rana
Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, is wanted for his role in the Mumbai attacks in which more than 160 people were killed. A former military doctor who served in the Pakistan Army was reported to have prior knowledge of the 2008 attacks. He was arrested in Denmark in 2009 for a terrorist plot. 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.
Arash 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 over 50 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and terrorist acts in India. He was designated a “terrorist” in January, 2004. Sources suggest that he is in contact with 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 bail in December.
Anmol Bishnoi
Anmol Bishnoi is the younger brother of Lawrence Bishnoi, who runs the dreaded Bishnoi gang from a prison in Gujarat. He is wanted in India for several high-profile cases, including the murders of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala and politician Baba Siddiq. Enmol was arrested in the US last November for entering the country without valid documents. Intelligence sources had indicated that there was no possibility for him to be extradited so soon despite a request for custody from Delhi.
vijay mallya
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is facing 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 following the collapse of his biggest company to date, Kingfisher Airlines. He was declared a fugitive in 2019. India is in a protracted legal battle for Mallya’s custody, which is unlikely to end any time soon. Back home, a CBI court issued a separate non-bailable warrant last year in a separate Rs 180 crore loan default case.
Nirav Modi
Diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are the prime accused in the Rs 14,000 crore PNB loan fraud case. Both are being investigated by bank officials over an alleged nexus that helped them commit the fraud. Nirav Modi left the country in 2018 and was arrested in London the same year. Now lodged in a UK jail, he has so far lost all his petitions against extradition to India. Mehul Choksi is now in Antigua.
Apart from this, there is a list of many other criminals who are trying to be brought back to India. The list includes Sanjay Bhandari, an arms deal consultant, who is in the UK and faces charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
Mahadev betting app promoter Saurabh Chandrakar faces extradition in 2023 on money laundering charges following his arrest in Dubai. It was then reported that he has been placed under “house detention” amid efforts by Indian agencies to secure his deportation.
