Indian security agencies braced for the arrival Thursday of Tahawwur Rana, being extradited from the US nearly 16 years after his arrest for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Rana is likely to be flown to New Delhi where he is expected to be lodged in Tihar Jail.
On Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to discuss the preparations.
A source said Director of Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and NIA Director Sadanand Date were also present at the meeting.
A team of three senior officers of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), along with three intelligence officials, reached the US Sunday to obtain custody of Rana, sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
Earlier, the US Supreme Court denied Rana’s application seeking a stay on his extradition to India.
The Indian team, sources said, left for the US after getting confirmation of a ‘surrender warrant’ – it’s a requirement for the surrender of a fugitive criminal to a foreign state.
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According to sources, once Rana reaches Delhi, he is likely to be sent to judicial custody.
“There is no formal communication to the Tihar Jail administration, but they have also started a security assessment of his cell; they are likely to lodge him in a high-security ward. His cell will have CCTV cameras with in-built bathroom facilities, and they will monitor his activities 24×7,” the sources said.
Rana, 64, who is of Pakistani origin, has been at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. He is an associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba scout David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Paving the way for Rana’s extradition, the US Supreme Court, on January 21, rejected his review petition. It is learnt that after the US Supreme Court’s decision, an NIA team was initially called to the US in January-end, but officials there later sought more time to review all the documents.
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“Senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs, along with officials of the Home Ministry and the NIA, were in constant touch with US officials. They were informed that the US State Department was also coordinating with the Secretary of State for issuing the ‘surrender warrant’ for Rana,” a source in the MHA said.