Yakub Memon hanged, buried under tight security

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 30

Yakub Memon, sentenced to death in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case, was on Thursday hanged at the Nagpur Central Jail after the Supreme Court, in an unprecedented 3am sitting, rejected pleas to postpone his execution. Memon was executed on his 54th birthday.

According to state home department sources the government agreed to Memon's last wish and allowed him to speak to his daughter Zubeida. He spoke to her on Wednesday night from jail, sources said. He was also allowed to meet his brothers Suleiman and Usman who told him about the late-night efforts to save his life. The family also sent him a
birthday cake a little after midnight. 

Officials said Yakub was persuaded to eat his dinner of roti and chicken since he had not eaten for two days.

Memon took a bath and donned new clothes after which he was given breakfast which he refused. He was then given some prayer books and at 6am taken to the specially-constructed gallows within the Nagpur Central Jail premises.

As per the prescribed procedure, a black cover was draped over his head, his hands tied behind his back. His feet too were bound before the hanging.

At around 6.30am, the actual hanging was carried out by the police constable, who had last year executed Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab at the Yerwada Central Jail in Pune. Two constables who were trained to assist in the execution stood by while the lever was pulled.Officials refused to release the names of the police officials on the
grounds of security.

Besides medical officials, senior officials who were present at the time of execution included Nagpur Collector Sachin Kurne, ADG (Prisons) Meeran Borwankar, Judicial Magistrate Girish Joshi, Jailor Yogesh Desai.

The body of Yakub Memon was pulled down after it was left hanging for 30 minutes as prescribed in the jail manual. After the prison doctor declared him dead, a post-mortem was conducted within the jail premises.

Later in the day, the remains of Memon were handed over to his family. His brother Suleiman and other relatives then brought the coffin containing Memon's body by an Indigo Airlines flight from Nagpur.

Among the conditions imposed on the family was that they would not hold a funeral procession for Memon. The police department also imposed Section 144 in and around the Memon residence at Mahim in Mumbai under which photography of Yakub Memon's body was prohibited.

Funeral amidst tight security
The funeral of Yakub Memon was held at the Bada Kabrastan Muslim cemetery in South Mumbai this afternoon amidst tight security.

Memon’s body was brought in a hearse to his brother Suleiman’s flat in Bismillah building next to Al Hussaini building where the bombs that went off in March 1993 were assembled. As several hundred people milled around the premises, the coffin containing the body was taken to the flat for funeral prayers shortly after 1pm.

At around 3pm, namaaz-e-janaaza or funeral prayers, were held at the Mahim dargah nearby after which an ambulance containing the coffin of Yakub Memon began slowly winding its way towards the Bada Kabrastan at Marine Lines in South Mumbai.

The mood was sombre at Mahim with assembled mourners telling journalists that injustice was done to Yakub Memon. Many of them blamed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for not commuting Memon's death sentence to life imprisonment for political reasons.

However, despite the latent anger among the Muslim community the situation was peaceful with a large police presence in the area. The entire Mahim neighbourhood observed a spontaneous bandh though the police insisted that the shut down was ordered by the authorities to maintain peace.

“We have cancelled the leaves of all policemen and ordered them on the streets,” Mumbai's Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria told reporters amidst supervising bandobust at Mahim near the Memon residence.

Contingents of the Rapid Action Force were also deployed across Mumbai to maintain peace and harmony, officials said. 

Security was tight at the Bada Kabrastan with most mediapersons being denied entry as the Memon family went about the funeral. According to police officials, several members of the family, including Yakub's father Abdul Razzak Memon, are buried here.

The police presence was tight with any type of political speeches banned on the occasion. Photography and video recording of the coffin too was banned by the authorities.

According to the police, Yakub Memon’s funeral was completed by 5.20pm.