Speculations are rife in the local media about Yakub Memon’s possible execution on July 30 and the reported plans of the jail administration to bury him inside the jail premises “in order to avoid communal flare up”.
However, the jail administration and Nagpur police have maintained strict silence over the fate of the 1993 Mumbai blasts accused. On Tuesday, another rumour surfaced in the jail premises that Yakub Memom would be “secretly” shifted to another jail in Maharashtra a day or two before his proposed execution.
A chopper doing the rounds of the area on Monday night, where Nagpur jail is situated, only added to the speculations but the jail authorities chose to remain tight-lipped. On Tuesday evening, Yakub’s cousin Usman Memon and his lawyer Anil Gedam visited Nagpur jail and spent three hours inside the high security prison, but both of them chose to avoid the media waiting at the jail gate.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has issued a Government Resolution (GR) sanctioning Rs.21, 84,700 for “to put up iron grills” to cover the open space in the hanging yard of Nagpur central jail. “With the rejection of Yakub Memon’s mercy petition by the Supreme Court, it is important to increase the security of Nagpur central prison. The government sanctions Rs.21, 84,700 to put up iron grills in section 3 of the Fasi yard,” reads the GR, a copy of which is available with The Hindu .
According some reports, the jail administration has already completed the work of putting up iron grills at the hanging yard with nearing of the “proposed date” of Yakub’s execution.
Nagpur police have already issued an “alert” in view of possible execution of Memon.
(The story has been edited to reflect the editorial stand of The Hindu)
Hanging in the balance
A little over 20 years after 13 co-ordinated blasts rocked Mumbai, killing 257 and injuring over 700, the lone convict on death, Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, could be hanged on July 30 if the SC rejects his curative petition against death sentence.
Here's a snapshot of the debates surrounding Yakub's case and the ethics of the death penalty and its finality.>From messenger to mastermind
Yakub Memon would pay for his brother's sins and become the only man to be sentenced to death in the Mumbai blasts case.
>Trial and error
Trial courts have been handing out death sentences at the rate of ten a month for the last 15 years.
>Why the death penalty must end:
The world is moving away from using the death penalty. The European Union has made "abolition of death penalty" a prerequisite for membership: says Kanimozhi
Timeline
>A case for mercy
Hanging Yakub Memon will be cruel and inhuman, for more than one reason
>From 'best' CA to death row detenu
Yakub was once named the best chartered accountant by the Memon community
>Justice or vengeance?
Procedure followed to obtain death warrant for Yakub Memon suffers from serious constitutional flaws
>Yakub Memon and the story of the death penalty
This will be India's third execution since it lifted its informal 8-year moratorium