India, April 14 -- Mumbai A timely tip-off from British counter-intelligence agency MI5 to their counterparts in the US led to the eventual arrest of David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana in 2009 - the childhood friends turned terrorists have been accused of planning the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Indian counter-terror officials familiar with the case told HT.

Rana, 64, was extradited to India from the US last week.

In July 2009, MI5 officials shared intelligence with the US regarding Pakistan-origin US citizen Headley's suspicious terror-scouting activities, the officials said. Headley was eventually arrested three months later in Chicago, US, on October 3, 2009, and Rana, 15 days after that.

It was during Headley's trip to Derby,...