Pune: Almost four years after the traumatic events unleashed in Mumbai that left 166 people dead, lone surviving 26/11 terror attack convict Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab was hanged in Pune’s Yerwada Jail on Wednesday morning, bringing down the curtains on a horrific chapter in the country’s history though loose ends remain.
Announcing the execution, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in New Delhi that Kasab was hanged till death at 7.30 am in Pune’s Yerwada Jail after President Pranab Mukherjee turned down his mercy petition.
The President had on November 5 rejected the mercy petition filed by the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist dashing his last hope.
The execution came one day before the winter session of Parliament begins and is a strong political message sent by the government ahead of the Gujarat elections.
The decision came two months after the Home Ministry rejected Kasab’s mercy petition addressed to the President. Venu Rajamony, press secretary of the President confirmed the decision.
Shinde’s recommendation to the President was in line with the recommendation of Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayan and the no-mercy-for-terrorists principle laid down by his predecessor P Chidambaram.
Kasab and nine fellow Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists had sailed into Mumbai on November 26, 2008 from Karachi and gone on a shooting spree that killed 166 people. Kasab was the only one captured alive by security forces.
Most of the people were vocal in their demand for the early execution of Kasab.
Kasab was one of the ten terrorists who travelled to India for the attack. Other nine were killed in the operation.
In Mumbai, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said this is the real condolence to the innocent people and the police and defence personnel who were killed in the attack.
After the mercy petition was rejected by Rashtrapati Bhawan, the Lashkar-e-Toiba operative was shifted from high-security Arthur Road Jail cell in Mumbai to the Pune jail.
Political parties in the national capital led by the BJP and Congress reacted with relief over the execution. The BJP welcomed the hanging of Kasab as ‘a delayed but good step’, saying the execution will give a strong message to his bosses across the border.
‘Kasab’s hanging will give a strong message to his bosses across the border. The Centre should pressurise the Pakistan government to act against terror groups functioning from that country’s soil,’ BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
He demanded that Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru be hanged soon to send across a strong message to the terrorists and instil a sense of fear in them.
BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said the hanging of Kasab was ‘better late than never’.
‘It took us four years to finally hang Kasab. Better late than never,’ Mr Prasad said.
He asked the Congress-led UPA government to expedite the whole process of mercy petitions.