Islamabad: In a serious development, Pakistan has stated that it has no connection with Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, stating that he holds Canadian citizenship and has not updated his Pakistani documentation for over 20 years.

Rana, born in Pakistan in 1961, previously served in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps before relocating to Canada in the 1990s, where he later acquired citizenship.

“He is a Canadian national and as per our record he has not renewed his Pakistani documents for over two decades,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan during his regular media briefing on Thursday.

While the spokesperson did not elaborate on the type of documents, such references generally pertain to passports and national identity cards for overseas Pakistanis.

Rana is linked to Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, a key planner of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Headley carried out surveillance of targets in Mumbai under the guise of working for Rana's immigration services firm.

The 2008 attacks resulted in the deaths of 166 people, including six Americans, as 10 Pakistani terrorists unleashed a 60-hour siege across multiple high-profile locations in Mumbai.

Rana, accused of playing a role in the conspiracy, was recently extradited from the United States, years after the devastating assault on India’s financial capital.

PTI