Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 10: Calling it a “big day” for India, Eknath Omble, the brother of Ashok Chakra awardee Tukaram Omble, on Thursday urged the Central government to deliver the harshest punishment—including capital punishment—to Tahawwur Rana, the accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks who is being extradited from the United States.
Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian national, is accused of aiding the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and David Headley, one of the key plotters behind the 26/11 attacks that left 174 people dead, including security personnel and foreign nationals.
“He should be hanged as soon as possible,” Eknath Omble said in a statement to ANI. “Many innocent people and policemen were killed. It was a painful night. Rana was closely associated with David Headley… they should have been punished long ago.”
Omble also emphasized that a strong and swift punishment for Rana would send a message to terror facilitators in Pakistan:
“He should be given such strict punishment that those in Pakistan who facilitate such things should think twice before committing them.”
He drew parallels with the delay in executing Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive during the 26/11 attacks, saying that while the delay helped expose Pakistan’s hand in the attack internationally, justice must now be swift and uncompromising.
Tukaram Omble, Eknath’s brother and a sub-inspector in the Mumbai Police, was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award. Armed only with a baton, he sacrificed his life while helping to capture Ajmal Kasab alive, which became a crucial breakthrough in exposing the terror plot and its perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the Central Government has appointed Advocate Narender Mann as Special Public Prosecutor to lead the trial in the case against Tahawwur Rana and David Headley, under NIA case RC-04/2009/NIA/DLI. Rana is expected to be taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) upon arrival in India.
His extradition follows years of legal efforts by India and was made possible after the U.S. Department of Justice and Supreme Court cleared the final legal hurdles. Rana had previously argued that prosecuting him in India would violate the principle of double jeopardy, but Indian legal authorities successfully countered the claim.
The extradition marks a crucial milestone in India’s ongoing pursuit of justice for the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, one of the deadliest terrorist strikes on Indian soil.