In an operation shrouded in secrecy, Afzal Guru, convicted in the audacious attack on the Parliament in 2001 was on Saturday hanged at Tihar Jail in New Delhi.
“Afzal Guru was hanged at 8 am,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said shortly after the execution of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant.
The mercy plea of 43-year-old Guru, who was sentenced to death in 2002 by a special court and later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004, was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on February 3 this year, Rashtrapati Bhavan spokespeman Venu Rajamony said.
Reminiscent of the hanging of Mumbai attack convict Ajmal Kasab on November 21 in 2012, Guru’s execution was kept under wraps in a top secret operation.
The family of Guru residing in north Kashmir’s Sopore was informed about the decision of the Government that his mercy petition has been rejected.
The body of Guru, who has been in the death row for over 10 years, is likely to be buried in Tihar Jail itself as it was done in the case of Kasab who was buried in Pune’s Yerwada jail soon after his execution.
Curfew was imposed in the Kashmir Valley in the wee hours on Saturday. Jammu & Kashmir Minister Omar Abdullah, DGP Ashok Prasad and other senior officers flew from Jammu to Srinagar early on Saturday morning to keep a close watch on the law and order situation.
Pro-Pakistan separatist groups have given a call for a three-day shut down in the Valley.
Guru was convicted on charges conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 2004.
On December 13, 2001, five heavily-armed gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened indiscriminate fire, killing nine persons.
They included five Delhi Police personnel, a woman Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) official, two watch and ward staff of the Parliament, and a gardener.
A journalist, who was injured, died later. All five terrorists were shot dead.
Guru was arrested within hours after the attack from a bus in the national capital.
(With inputs from PTI)
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