Afzal Guru hanged after mercy plea rejected

Execution takes place secretly in Tihar Jail, security beefed up in Valley, curfew in Srinagar and other parts

Mohammad Afzal Guru, a key player in the December 2001 Parliamentary attack, was hanged in Tihar's jail no 3 early this morning following  the rejection of his mercy plea by President Pranab Mukherjee.

The execution of the Jaish-e-Mohammad leader, which was carried out in secrecy at around 8:04 am today, has sparked protests in the valley and there are television reports of curfew being imposed in Srinagar and other parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Guru, the mastermind behind the Parliamentary attacks,

 

was on death row since 2002, when the sentence was first announced. The Supreme Court had upheld the verdict in 2004. Seven members of the security forces, including a female constable, along with five of the assailants were killed in the attack, which was jointly co-ordinated by the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-taiba.

The road to terrorism...

The Jaish leader, who belonged to J&K's Baramulla district, completed his first year MBBS and was pursuing a career in the civil services. He was also running a commission agency business in his hometown Sopore, when he came into contact with a Kashmiri dissident who lured him to join the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and promised him financial support. 

Guru took the bait and also received training in Pakistan, but was later disillusioned with the movement and moved back to Kashmir to surrender to the security forces.

...And to the gallows

Guru's mobile number was recovered from one of the dead attackers, which is how he was finally apprehended. Following his arrest on December 12, 2001, he was accused of providing shelter and assistance to the foot soldiers of the attack and otherwise facilitating the assault. Other charges levied against him included the recovery of explosives from his hideout in Delhi, and the possession of Rs 10 lakh given to him by the actual assailants.

He was given the death sentence in 2002 after various sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) were applied to him. The sentence was upheld by both, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.

Guru's mercy petition before the President of India had kicked up a storm in the country. Several human rights activists apart from political groups inn J&K supported the plea on the grounds that he was not given a fair trial. Two such were activist and writer Arundhati Roy, and veteran journalist Praful Bidwai, who asserted that he was being denied natural justice.

The opposition parties, such as the BJP and the Left front were vehemently opposed to such a viewpoint and were particularly critical of the stance taken by Roy.

The hanging that took place today,  which follows that of 26/11 attacker and Lashkar-e-taiba terrorist Ajmal Kasab on November 21, 2012, marks the close of one of the longest and most controversial chapters on clemency petitions in the history of Indian jurisprudence.