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Yakub Memon wrote another, undelivered, mercy plea on the eve of his hanging

Published On : 31 Jul 2015


Nagpur (TOI): The last few hours of 1993 bomb blast convict Yakub Memon's life were expectedly filled with spirituality. He also won the admiration of the Nagpur Central Jail personnel for his cooperation as he walked to the gallows after the Supreme Court rejected his last-minute petition in the early hours of Thursday.

Yakub, whose recitation of Koran verses could be heard even as his head was covered by the black hood, had told prison officials moments before that his last wish was to meet his mother. This could not be fulfilled due to her ill-health impeding a journey from Mumbai.

He is learnt to have scripted a fresh mercy petition to the President till 11pm on the eve of his hanging. He even handed it over to the in charge of his solitary confinement, and was keen to know its outcome in the morning. He was dead before his petition could reach anyone.

He was executed in the presence of senior jail officials, quasi-judicial personnel from district administration, magistrates and others at 7am sharp.

Other inmates of the jail were reportedly stunned by the execution; most of them were asleep, not knowing when he would be hanged. It also left many of them sad as Yakub was widely respected in the prison. Even a sizeable section of jail personnel reportedly had a soft corner for the erudite Yakub.

Sources claimed that Yakub had high hopes that his execution order would be stayed by the judiciary. When he heard the outcome, he was dejected but only for a moment and only said it was his elder brother and not he who was behind the blasts. "Yakub could barely believe the Supreme Court did not consider his case till the very last minute and that, apart from his spirituality, probably helped him keep calm," said a source.

Aware that his petition seeking time before execution after his last mercy petition was rejected by the President was being heard by the SC in the odd hours, Yakub's very first query to jail guards was regarding the outcome of the hearing when they woke him up at 5am. Sources said Yakub had read the Holy 'Koran' till midnight before hitting the bed on Wednesday. He kept tossing and turning on the mat before slipping into slumber for a few hours. It is learned Yakub had little interest in breakfast or meals in the past few days.

It is also learned that Yakub's elder brother Suleiman had broken down while meeting him at the 'mulaqat' room on Wednesday while informing his younger sibling that legal options were fast running out. It was Yakub who gave him strength saying he needed to be stronger to look after the family. He also urged Suleiman to look after his wife and daughter, said a source.

In the morning too, Yakub offered 'namaz' after bath. He started reading 'Koran' after the namaaz and tried to refuse breakfast. The jail personnel cajoled him to have tea and biscuit before he resumed reading the holy book again. At 6.50am the jail personnel urged Yakub to rise for final formalities. Yakub followed the personnel promptly without slightest resistance. He became 24th person to be hanged at Nagpur central jail and the 59th in the state on his 54th birthday in the early hours of Thursday, barely two hours after his final petition was rejected by the apex court.

The jail authorities, under additional director general of police, prisons, Meeran Borwankar and superintendent of police, Central Jail, Yogesh Desai, seemed to have been confident regarding the apex court's rulings as they had already sent the execution order 'hamdast' (hand delivered) to Yakub's brother Suleiman and cousin Usman at Dwarka Hotel at 2.15am. The jail officials later returned to take some more documents and signatures to complete the final formalities. At around 5.30am the lights around the jail abruptly went off for a couple of minutes leading to speculation that it was some kind of signal.

The jail officials were ready for the execution well in advance but decided to wait for the clock to strike 7am to avoid further legal complications as the TADA court had mentioned the time on the death warrant issued by it. A doctor's team under Government Medical College and Hospital dean Dr Abhimanyu Niswade certified him dead. In a first, the post-mortem too was conducted within the jail and Yakub's kin handed over the body. An ambulance carrying it rushed to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar international airport escorted by jail officials, police and intelligence agency personnel at top speed. Jail authorities had also inducted Dr Pramod Giri, a neurophysician from GMCH's superspecialty hospital, to check Yakub's body. The post-mortem was conducted by GMCH's head of forensic department Dr Makrand Vyawahare and an associate professor. Mayo Hospital's Dr Maruti Koichade, head of the department of orthopaedics, was also present.

Earlier, city police ensured an unprecedented security cover around jail premises complementing it with restrictive orders to assemble.

District collector Sachin Kurve had deputed two officers Girish Joshi, deputy collector (land acquisition, VIDC II) and Ram Joshi, SDO Ramtek, in capacity of executive magistrates. The two officials reached central jail well before the execution. Their job was to ensure that the hanging took place as per guidelines of Supreme Court. After the execution an X-ray was taken of Yakub's body, that confirmed his spine had snapped and he did not die of strangulation. The same was mentioned in the panchnama. One copy would be submitted to the jailer while the other will remain with the district collector.

Sources also said that a 'maulvi' was also summoned to offer the 'Namaaz' after death. Yakub's family, which was allowed inside later, insisted that they would get the namaaz offered by their own maulvi in Mumbai.


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