Mumbai : The 1993 Mumbai serial blast convict Yakub Memon was executed on Thursday at 7 am at the Nagpur Central Jail. However, till two hours prior to the execution, jail authorities were glued to the television sets to find out if they really had to do the job as a group of lawyers had gathered at the residence of the Chief Justice of India and were demanding that he should hear a fresh petition moved by Memon’s lawyers. The group contended that the President could not decide on the mercy plea overnight and also that Memon’s execution should not be allowed to proceed for the next 14 days.
Around 4.50 am, the judges rejected the plea and the stage was set for Yakub’s hanging. According to his lawyer Anil Gedam, Yakub looked nervous but was hoping against hope of some last-minute miracle. Yakub’s brother Suleman and cousin Usman were the only family members present to bid him a tearful farewell. When he met them, he broke down and after much persuasion, ate one roti with chicken curry. Sources said that Yakub had not eaten for the last two days and was quite restless.
Meanwhile, there was a heavy deployment of police around the high-security prison and mediapersons were not allowed to meet Yakub’s relatives. Also, prohibitory orders were issued before the hanging and the prison area was cordoned off by police.
As Yakub was awake the entire night, the jail authorities went to with the breakfast which he didn’t eat. He was given new clothes to wear and around 5.30 am Yakub offered his prayers and read a few pages of the Holy Quran. Around 6 am he was inspected by a team of doctors and was taken to the scaffold. As prescribed by the law, the Chief Judicial Magistrate was present to supervise the proceedings and read out the charge against him before the execution. Sources say that Yakub was hanged at 6.35 am, and a medical team at the jail pronounced him dead at 7.01 am. Later, his body was sent for an autopsy in the jail hospital by a medical team from a Nagpur government hospital, before being cleared for the last rites.
