Guwahati, Apr 12 (PTI) The extradition of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana is a warning to fugitives leading luxurious lives abroad that they will have to face justice in India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa asserted on Saturday.

He maintained that Rana being brought back has been a big diplomatic victory for Modi, whereas the US courts had acquitted the terror mastermind in the Mumbai attack case as there was “no proper follow up” by the then UPA government at the Centre.

“Rana’s extradition is a big diplomatic victory because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. American courts had acquitted him in the Mumbai terror case as there was no proper follow-up by the UPA government. He was in jail only in another case,” Sarma said at a press conference here.

Rana, a 64-year-old Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, was escorted by NIA officials to Delhi on Thursday evening on a chartered aircraft after his extradition from the US, ending a 16-year-long wait to prosecute one of the key accused in the deadly Mumbai attack in November 2008 in which 166 people were killed and over 238 injured.

Complimenting the prime minister, Sarma said, “We have full faith in the judiciary and it will give him (Rana) what he deserves.” The chief minister also maintained that this extradition should serve as a warning to other absconders from India.

“The fugitives must remember that with Modi ji here, they will have to come back. They may be leading luxurious lives abroad now, but it is only a temporary reprieve,” he added.

Sarma also recalled his stay in Mumbai during the attacks in 2008, recounting how he had booked in the Taj Hotel, one of the sites of the attack, but had checked into another hotel at the last moment. He was a minister in the Congress-led state government then. PTI SSG SSG ACD