Canada likely to revoke Tahawwur Rana’s citizenship ahead of PM Carney’s India trip
Immigration officials say 26/11 accused misrepresented residence details in the application
The Canadian government has initiated steps to revoke the citizenship of a Pakistan-born businessman, Tahawwur Rana Hussain, the mastermind behind 2008 Mumbai terror attack. The move comes ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to India on February 26, a report said.
Documents obtained by Global News show that immigration officials have notified Rana that they intend to strip him of Canadian citizenship. In its decision, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) wrote that Rana’s citizenship was being revoked not for terrorism, but rather because he lied on his application form, the report added.
Rana, 64, is a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of one of the main conspirators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, David Coleman Headley, alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen.
Also read: Rana and Headley: How boyhood best friends became crony terrorists
Rana immigrated to Canada in 1997 and became a citizen in 2001. He was later convicted in the US of plotting to attack staff at a Danish newspaper.
Rana, accused of playing a key role in the 26/11 Mumbai attack, which killed 166 people, was extradited from the United States to India in April 2025. He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as soon as he landed in New Delhi.
Incorrect information
When Rana applied for citizenship in 2000, he claimed to have lived in Ottawa and Toronto for the previous four years, with only a six-day absence from the country, the IRCC wrote in a report.
An RCMP investigation, however, determined he had actually spent almost that entire time in Chicago, where he owned several properties and businesses, including an immigration firm and a grocery store.
Also read: Tahawwur Rana's extradition big success of Modi govt: Amit Shah
The revocation decision accused him of “a serious and deliberate deception,” and said his “lack of respect for the citizenship laws of Canada” had led immigration officials to wrongly grant him citizenship.
“Yours is a case in which it appears that you misrepresented your residence in Canada during the application process for citizenship by deliberately failing to declare your absences from Canada,” IRCC wrote to him on May 31, 2024.
"Your misrepresentation led decision makers to believe that you had met the residence requirements for citizenship, when it appears you had not.”
Carney’s India visit
Carney will travel to Mumbai and New Delhi, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on March 2 to reset the Canada-India relations.
This is the first official visit by a Canadian leader since ties were strained under the previous administration
The leaders will focus on expanding cooperation across trade, energy, technology and artificial intelligence, talent mobility, culture, and defence.
Also read: India, Canada finalise national work plan on security, law enforcement