Tahawwur Hussain Rana Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	Businessman, Physician, Retired Pakistan Army personnel
Notorious for	• Being a close associate of David Coleman Headley • Aiding the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in executing the 2008 Mumbai attacks • Getting jailed in 2013 for his involvement in planning an attack on Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 173 cm in meters- 1.73 m in feet & inches- 5’ 8”
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Salt and Pepper
Personal Life
Date of Birth	12 January 1961 (Thursday)
Age (as of 2023)	62 Years
Birthplace	Chichawatni, Sahiwal, Punjab Province, Pakistan
Zodiac sign	Capricorn
Signature
Nationality	He holds dual citizenship, Pakistani, and Canadian.
Hometown	Sahiwal, Punjab Province, Pakistan
School	• Army School, Punjab Province, Pakistan • Cadet College Hasanabdal, Attock
College/University	Army Medical College, Rawalpindi
Educational Qualification	MBBS
Religion	Islam [1]NIA
Address	6018, N. Campbell Ave, Chicago IL 60659, the United States of America
Controversies	• He was arrested by the FBI in 2009 for playing an important role in helping the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in planning an attack on Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten. • He played an important in assisting David Headley in scouting locations in Mumbai before the 26/11 Mumbai attacks for which the Indian government sought his extradition.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	Year, 1995
Family
Wife/Spouse	Samraz Akhtar Rana (physician, citizen of Canada)
Children	Son- 1 Daughter(s)- 2
Parents	Father- Rana Wali Muhammad (businessman)
Siblings	Brother(s)- 3 Abbas Rana (journalist) Note: His two other brothers are serving as officers in the Pakistan Army.

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tahawwur Hussain Rana

• Tahawwur Hussain Rana is a Pakistani Canadian doctor, entrepreneur, and former Pakistan Army officer, who is one of the Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) operatives accused of perpetrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Rana is also known for his affiliation with David Coleman Headley, a LeT operative who scouted Mumbai before the Mumbai Attacks in 2008. Tahawwur is serving a 14-year prison sentence in the United States of America for being one of the masterminds of the foiled 2005 attempt to kill the employees of a Danish news outlet. In May 2023, he made the headlines after the US District Court in California, as per the Extradition Treaty signed between India and the US in 1997, cleared Rana’s deportation to India to face a trial for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

• After completing his military training module at the Army Medical College in Rawalpindi, Tahawwur was commissioned into the Army Medical Corps of the Pakistan Army as a second lieutenant.

• According to an article written by the former director of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Radha Vinod Raju, Rana was court-martialled and removed from the service as a captain in the mid-1990s after he failed to report for his duty and absconded.

• Following his removal from the service, he practised MBBS in Pakistan for some time before shifting to Canada in 1997.

• He later established several businesses in major Canadian cities like Toronto.

• He acquired the citizenship of Canada in June 2001.
  

  A photocopy of Tahawwur Rana’s Canadian passport

• Thereafter, he moved to Chicago, the US, where he established several businesses including an immigration consultation firm named First World Immigration Services Inc as well as several slaughterhouses.

• After moving to the US, he became a member of the Iqbal Society, which undertook debates on various topics related to Islam and the Prophet’s teachings.

• Tahawwur was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Chicago on 18 October 2009 for aiding the Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in planning an attack on the employees of a Copenhagen-based news outlet named Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten that made fun of Prophet Muhammad through its caricature in 2005. The attack never took place as the terror plot was timely unearthed by the CIA and the Danish intelligence agency. The FBI, in its chargesheet, also revealed that Tahawwur and his wife had visited Mumbai, where the couple had lodged at the Taj Mahal Palace just a few days before the 26/11 attacks. From 16 May 2011 to 2013, Tahawwur’s trial took place at the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where Judge Harry Leinenweber handed out a 14-year prison sentence to him in 2013. Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco, while giving an interview, said,
  

  Today’s sentence demonstrates that, just as vigorously as we pursue terrorists and their organizations, we will also pursue those who facilitate their violent plots from a safe distance. As established at trial, Tahawwur Rana provided critical support to David Headley and other terrorists from his base in the United States, knowing they were plotting attacks overseas. I thank the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s result.”

• Abbas Rana, Tahawwur Rana’s younger brother, in an interview, said that when Tahawwur was sentenced to prison for 14 years, the family did not tell Tahawwur’s father about the incident because of his failing health. He talked about it and further said,
  

  When the story first broke in the American media last month, The family members decided not to tell father because we were afraid it would kill him. We waited for weeks and tried to shield our cable-news-junkie father from news reports, but were forced to tell him two weeks ago. The news put him in the hospital.”

• In 2008, following the Mumbai attacks, the Government of India detailed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) to conduct a probe into the attacks, which led to the killing of more than 160 people including 6 US citizens.
  

  A photo of the soldiers of the Indian Army taking position near the Taj Mahal Palace hotel during the Mumbai attacks

  Later, the agencies named several people for playing an active role in the execution of the attacks including Hafiz Saeed, the head of the LeT, David Coleman Headley, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana. The NIA, in 2009, issued a warrant for the arrest of the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks under (a) conspiracy to wage war, to commit murder, to commit forgery for the purpose of cheating, to use as genuine a forged document or electronic record, and to commit a terrorist act (b) waging war, (c) murder, (d) committing a terrorist act, and (e) conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. The agencies also revealed that David had come to Mumbai, portraying himself as a businessman to establish a new branch of Tahawwur’s First World Immigration Services Inc, a few months before the terrorists struck the city to select locations for the attacks. ^[2]Institute Of Peace & Conflict Studies Tahawwur knew David Headley since childhood, and the duo were classmates at the Cadet College Hasanabdal.

  

  A photo of Tahawwur Rana (left) and David Headley (right) taken at the Cadet College Hasanabdal

  It was also ascertained that Rana and his wife had visited many places in India apart from Mumbai such as Delhi, Kochi, and Uttar Pradesh before departing for Pakistan. Later, the FBI published a report in which it claimed that according to a phone call recording between David Coleman and Tahawwur, the duo had plans of attacking the Delhi-based National Defence College (NDC), a military institute. ^[3]The Globe and Mail It was also reported by many sources that Tahawwur Hussain Rana was working for a retired ISI agent, Major Abdul Rehman (aka Pasha), as a messenger between Pasha and David. The NIA filed a chargesheet against him in a Delhi court in 2011 after the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois did not find Tahawwur guilty during his trial of the failed 2005 terror attack on the Danish media house due to inadequate evidence. David Coleman Headley, in 2016, claimed that he acquired an Indian Visa with Tahawwur’s assistance; however, Tahawwur and his family denied the allegations.

  

  A snippet of ANI’s tweet

  On 10 June 2020. under the 1997 Extradition Treaty between the US and India, the Indian government applied for his deportation from the US to India; the request for his extradition was supported by the Biden-led US administration. Thereafter, India submitted evidence of Tahawwur Hussain Rana’s involvement in the 26/11 attacks to the US government. In May 2023, the US District Court of California opined in favour of his extradition and notified the same to the Secretary of State of the United States. In her judgement, Judge Chooljian of the US District Court of California said,

  The Court has reviewed and considered all of the documents submitted in support of and in opposition to the Request, and has considered the arguments presented at the hearing. Based on such review and consideration and for the reasons discussed herein, the Court makes the findings set forth below, and CERTIFIES to the Secretary of State of the United States the extraditability of Rana on the charged offences that are the subject of the Request.”

  The Mumbai police’s crime branch filed a 400-page chargesheet against Rana in the case and presented it before a special court on 25 September 2023. According to a senior police official, the police had found new evidence against Rana which included documents and statements. The officials, moreover, included Section 39A of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against Rana in the case; Section 39A of UAPA pertains to offences related to supporting a terrorist organization. ^[4]The Telegraph