Toronto, Dec 2 (Inditop.com) Tahawwur Hussain Rana, one of the two US-based terror suspects arrested in October on charges of plotting attacks in India on behalf of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), will appear in a Chicago court later Wednesday with hopes he will be set free on bond.
Rana, a Canadian citizen who was born in Pakistan and operated an immigration service in Chicago, has been in custody since Oct 18 when Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arrested him.
He was arrested days after his co-defendant David Coleman Headley, 49, was held by FBI Oct 3 for allegedly plotting to launch terror attacks on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed.
The two are said to have links with the Pakistan-based LeT and were also allegedly scheming strikes in India. The bond hearing for Headley was postponed indefinitely Tuesday.
Rana, 48, is accused of conspiring with Headley and provide material support to a terrorist conspiracy and providing support to that conspiracy.
This is a very serious offence involving “members of some of the most sophisticated, violent terrorist organizations that exist”, The Canadian Press reported quoting prosecutors as saying in documents filed in preparation for Rana’s bail hearing in a Chicago court.
The prosecution is opposing the bail, saying “there are no set of conditions that will reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant”.
Indian investigators and the FBI are probing whether Rana and Headley were involved in terror attacks last year in Mumbai that killed over 170 people. The two had travelled to many Indian cities before and after the Mumbai attacks.
Rana’s lawyer, Patrick Blegen, has said his client “categorically denies” involvement in the attack.
According to The Canadian Press, court documents show Rana’s lawyers argue that there was no risk the accused will flee because friends and family are willing to put up six homes in the US, and combined with other funds Rana could post about $1 million in bail.
“Fleeing would devastate not only the defendant’s immediate family, but would render homeless and/or jeopardize the financial security of other family members and friends,” Blegen wrote.
The court documents also show that prosecutors will oppose bail by noting Rana has a “foreign residence and access to foreign accounts” and has allegedly shown he was able to engage in immigration fraud.
The father of three was born in Pakistan and has lived in Chicago for more than 10 years. He owns several businesses, including an immigration consultancy in Toronto.
