Extradition of Key Mumbai Attack Figure Tahavvur Rana:
Devika Rotawan, a victim and main witness of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, deemed the extradition of prime accused Tahavvur Hussain Rana from the USA as a major win for India. She urged the exposure and punishment of other conspirators hiding in Pakistan. Rotawan demands the death penalty for Rana (64).
Devika Rotawan was instrumental in identifying Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving terrorist captured alive during the attacks, in court. At the youthful age of nine, Devika was at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) amid a hail of terrorist gunfire, her leg hit by a bullet.
Her testimony became pivotal in convicting Kasab, who was sentenced by a Mumbai court and hanged in 2012.
On Rana's extradition, Rotawan expressed, 'This is a monumental triumph for India, and I thank the Indian government. Rana's arrival is the beginning of the end for terrorism.' She emphasized the importance of Indian security agencies interrogating Rana for more intelligence, unmasking terrorist factions sheltered in Pakistan.
Rotawan stressed, 'While Rana deserves the death penalty, those in Pakistan backing and inciting terrorism equally warrant severe punishment.'
Recounting that terrifying night on November 26, 2008, she recalled, 'I was traveling with my father and brother to Pune, waiting between platforms 12 and 13 when I saw a man (later identified as Kasab) firing indiscriminately with a large weapon. Corpses and injured lay everywhere. At nine, it was beyond comprehension.'
The bullet left Devika unconscious, necessitating hospital treatment first at St. George and then Mumbai's J.J. Hospital, involving six surgeries on her leg. She recounted, 'I saw Kasab shooting; my father witnessed both Kasab and Abu Ismail. We identified Kasab in trial court on June 10, 2009.'
Tahavvur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian, is closely associated with mastermind David Coleman Headley, alias Daoud Gilani, a U.S. citizen.
It is noteworthy that 16 years prior, ten heavily armed terrorists from Pakistan executed a coordinated onslaught on Mumbai's CSMT, two luxury hotels, and a Jewish center. These terrorists infiltrated India's financial hub via sea and unleashed terror for almost 60 hours, killing 166 people, including American nationals.
