Afzal Guru, convicted in the audacious attack on Parliament in 2001, was on Saturday hanged in Tihar Jail, in an operation shrouded in secrecy.

“Afzal Guru was hanged at 8 a.m.,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said shortly after the execution of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant.

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, Rashtrapati Bhavan spokespeman Venu Rajamony said.

Reminiscent of the hanging of Mumbai attack convict Ajmal Kasab on November 21, 2012 Guru’s execution was kept under wraps in a top secret operation.

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.

The body of Guru, who has been in the death row for over 10 years, is likely to be buried in Tihar Jail itself as it was done in the case of Kasab who was buried in Pune’s Yerwada jail soon after his execution.

Curfew was imposed in the Kashmir Valley in the wee hours of Saturday. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, DGP Ashok Prasad and other senior officers flew from Jammu to Srinagar early this morning to keep a close watch on the law and order situation.

Pro-Pakistan separatist groups have given a call for a three-day shut down in the Valley.

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.

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Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged this morning, walked to the gallows in a peaceful and composed frame of mind.

“He was very peaceful and calm during the final moments. He looked very composed,” a top Tihar Jail official told PTI.

The official said Guru’s family was informed about the execution.

Afzal’s family communicated through Speed Post

“They (Tihar jail authorities) intimated the family through Speed Post, registered post and the DG (Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police) has been told to check with the family whether they got it or not,” Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh told reporters here.

Mr. Singh said the J&K government has been taken into confidence before Guru’s hanging on early Saturday.

In the wake of Afzal Guru’s hanging, the Jammu and Kashmir government is taking all necessary preventive measures to maintain peace there but the government is not apprehending any trouble in rest of the country.

“We are not having any apprehension anywhere in the country. In Jammu and Kashmir, the state government is taking steps. We are in touch with them,” the Home Secretary said.

Without giving details, Mr.Singh said security has been intensified in some areas.

Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged on Saturday 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.

COURTESY:THE HINDU