Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Three months after 26/11 attack convict Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab's execution, Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged in a top-secret operation on Saturday morning. The Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist has been buried inside the jail itself, according to a prison official.
Afzal Guru, who was convicted of plotting the 2001 terror attack on the Indian Parliament, was hanged at 8 am inside Delhi's Tihar Jail, confirmed Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Home Secretary RK Singh.
The Parliament attack convict was hanged about 20 metres away from special security jail number 3 where he was lodged since 2001, jail's director general Vimla Mehra told a news agency.
Meanwhile, curfew has been imposed around Tihar Jail and in several parts of Kashmir. All the police stations in New Delhi were put on high alert, police sources said.
Speaking to reporters, Singh said the situation isn't sensitive anywhere “but we have taken precautions regarding security”.
Earlier, Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson Venu Rajamony had confirmed that the mercy plea of the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee a few days ago, paving the way for his hanging.
According to Singh, the President rejected Afzal Guru's mercy petition on February 03..."We moved accordingly then".
“We did an investigation. As soon as the President rejected, further steps according to the jail manual were taken up. I repeat myself; it was law taking its course. It’s a rule of the law. We don’t announce our steps word by word. The Jammu and Kashmir Police have taken some security measures,” Singh said.
Formal announcement was also made by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde later.
Asked if he had been kept in the loop, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said: "Absolutely."
Guru's hanging has been welcomed by the BJP as well as families of those who were killed in the 2001 attack.
Guru was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 2004. His hanging was scheduled for October 2006, but was stayed after his wife filed a mercy petition.
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 Parliament watch and ward staff and a gardener.
A journalist, who was injured, died later. All five terrorists were shot dead.
Guru was picked up after the attack on December 15, 2001, from a bus in the national capital.
Five days before the fourth anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the lone captured Kasab was not only hanged till death at the Yerwada Central Prison but also buried there.
(With PTI inputs)
First Published: Saturday, February 09, 2013, 08:14