Saturday, February 9, 2013

Afzal Guru hanged, buried in Tihar jail


Afzal Guru, convicted in the audacious attack on Parliament in 2001, was on February 9 hanged in Tihar Jail, in an operation shrouded in secrecy.
The mercy plea of the 43-year-old Guru, who was sentenced to death in 2002 by a special court and later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004, was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee a few days back.
 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. Guru was buried inside the prison complex  after his execution.
Guru was convicted on charges conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on Parliament.
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. 



Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged on February 9 at the Tihar Jail. Following is the chronology of events leading to the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist’s execution:

December 13, 2001: Five terrorists enter Parliament complex and open indiscriminate fire, killing nine people and injuring over 15.

December 15, 2001: Delhi Police pick up Afzal Guru, a member of terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), from Jammu and Kashmir. S.A.R Geelani of Delhi University’s Zakir Hussain College picked up for questioning and later arrested. Two others — Afsan Guru and her husband Shaukat Hussain Guru — were picked up later.

December 29, 2001: Afzal Guru sent to 10-day police remand.

June 4, 2002: Charges are framed against four people — Afzal Guru, Geelani, Shaukat Hussain Guru, Afsan Guru and Geelani.

December 18, 2002: Death sentence given to Geelani, Shaukat Hussain Guru and Afzal Guru, while Afsan Guru is let off.

August 30, 2003: Jaish-e-Muhammad leader Ghazi Baba, prime accused in the attack, is killed in an encounter with the Border Security Force (BSF) in Srinagar. Three more militants along with him are also killed in the 10-hour encounter.

October 29, 2003: Geelani acquitted in the case.

August 4, 2005: The Supreme Court, while confirming the death sentence of Afzal Guru, commutes Shaukat Hussain Guru’s death sentence to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
September 26, 2006: Delhi court orders Afzal Guru to be hanged.

October 3, 2006: Afzal Guru’s wife Tabasum Guru files a mercy petition with then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

January 12, 2007: The Supreme Court dismisses Afzal Guru’s plea seeking review of his death sentence, saying “there is no merit” in it.

May 19, 2010: Delhi government rejects Afzal Guru’s mercy petition; endorses capital punishment awarded to him by the Supreme Court.

December 30, 2010: Shaukat Hussain Guru released from Tihar Jail.

December 10, 2012: Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde says he would examine Afzal Guru’s file after Parliament’s Winter session concludes on December 22.

February 3, 2013: President Pranab Mukherjee rejects Afzal Guru’s mercy petition

February 9, 2013: Afzal Guru hanged in Tihar Jail. 

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