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| India Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru [FILE PHOTO] |
New Delhi: Indian government hanged Kashmiri militants Afzal Guru on
Saturday over his role in audacious attack on Parliament in 2001.
Briefing reporters in New Delhi, Indian Home Minister Sushil
Kumar Shinde informed that Afzal Guru was hanged at 8 a.m. (IST).
“Afzal Guru was hanged at 8 a.m. All legal procedures were
followed in the execution,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said shortly after
the execution of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant.
Guru, a former fruit seller was hanged at Tihar Jail on the
outskirts of the capital after his final appeal for mercy was rejected by
President Pranab Mukherjee.
Notably, Guru’s execution has came following hanging of Mumbai
attack convict Ajmal Kasab on November 21, 2012 that too was kept under wraps in a top secret operation.
But unlike Kasab's execution, which sparked celebrations in
the streets, Guru's case was seen as more divisive.
Fathoming the fear of backlash over the execution that was shrouded
in secrecy , a curfew has been imposed in parts of Indian-administered Kashmir with sealing off the centre of the main city
of valley.
43-year-old Guru, was sentenced to death in 2002 by a
special court and later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004.
While India’s main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
welcomed the execution, one of Guru’s co-accused who was later cleared said it
was a travesty of justice.
Five armed rebels stormed India’s parliament in New Delhi on
December 13, 2001, killing eight police officers and a gardener before they
were shot dead by security forces. A journalist wounded in the attack died
months later.
As the decision to hang Guru emerged, security forces
imposed a curfew in rural areas parts of Indian-administered Kashmir, with the
announcement made by loudhailer as police patrolled the Kashmir Valley.
“The situation in Kashmir is being closely monitored,” Mr.
Shinde added.
Few activists outfit has called the hanging “unfair” and said
that Guru should have get a fair trial.
The Supreme Court of India in 2003 awarded death sentence to
Guru, which was to to be carried out on October 20, 2006. However, the
execution was stayed even as Afzal remained on death row.
The family of Guru residing in Sopore in north Kashmir was
informed about the decision of the government that his mercy petition has been
rejected.