New Delhi, Apr 10: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the return of Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is a great success of the Modi government’s diplomacy.
He said it is the responsibility of the Indian government to bring back all those who have misbehaved with the people of India. Speaking on a private TV channel, Shah said it will be a great achievement for the country that Tahawwur Rana will face a trial in an Indian court.
Union Home Minister also criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of spreading rumours about the Citizenship Amendment Act. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi and his allies spread the rumour in the country that the citizenship of Muslims will be taken away due to the implementation of CAA. He said not a single Muslim has lost his citizenship since the implementation of the CAA. He said the country was misled by Congress and the Indi Alliance, and violence was instigated on this issue.
The minister also raised questions about Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, saying that if Waqf was the main issue for Congress, then why did Priyanka Gandhi not come to vote against it in Parliament. He also questioned Rahul for not speaking on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Parliament. Mr Shah said the Modi government has freed the country from casteism, nepotism and appeasement and has taken it towards the politics of development.
It may be recalled that Tahawwur Hussain Rana is a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that saw 166 people being killed by 10 terrorists., The Pakistani-origin Canadian national has exhausted all legal options available in the United States and is reportedly being brought back to India.
A multi-agency team of the central government reportedly went to the United States to bring him to India to face trial in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case.
Tahawwur Rana is expected to be brought to Delhi, where he will be initially in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which will carry out the legal formalities, PTI reported quoting sources.
Tahawwur Rana is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Rana in Chicago a year after the attacks in October 2009 for providing support for an aborted plan to attack a newspaper in Copenhagen (Denmark) and providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
He was convicted in 2011 in that case and sentenced to 14 years in jail. However, Rana was acquitted of charges of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai terror attacks.
His last-ditch effort to stop his extradition failed as the US Supreme Court denied his application, moving him closer to being handed over to the Indian authorities to face the law in the country.