J&K government kept in the loop on Afzal Guru's hanging: Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir government was kept in the loop about the Centre's decision to hang Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and all steps to maintain law and order in the state have been taken, said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. "We were informed yesterday (Friday) that Afzal Guru will be hanged today at 8 am and that we take necessary actions to maintain law and order. After completion of all possible legal avenues, the execution of Afzal Guru was scheduled for today morning at 8 am. We were told to put in place a plan for the fallout of this execution," said Abdullah in Srinagar.

Clarifying that the Army has not been called out, Abdullah said that he had instructed and ordered the security forces to deal with the situation with maximum restraint. "Security forces have been mobilised. Army has not been called out. We are managing the situation with J&K Police and paramilitary forces. I appeal to the people of Kashmir not to allow the situation to go out of control," said the J&K Chief Minister.

He also appealed to the media to not show or report unverified information as that could lead to a law and order problem. "I appeal to the people to not let the situation go out of control. I appeal to media to verify reports as most of the time we are victims of rumours and it gets very difficult to counter unverified reports," he said.

Abdullah added that the state government was not required to sign warrant of execution as there was no case against Guru in Jammu and Kashmir.

Afzal Guru was awarded death sentence by a Delhi court on December 18, 2002 after being convicted of conspiracy to attack Parliament on December 13, 2001. The death sentence was upheld by Delhi High Court on October 29, 2003 and finally his appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court two years later on August 4, 2005.

Nine security personnel, including five policemen, were killed when suspected Pakistan-backed terrorists had attacked Parliament. Afzal Guru's execution had been initially scheduled on October 20, 2006. The execution was stayed after his wife filed a mercy petition with the President.

On January 21, 2013 the Union Home Ministry had sent Guru's mercy petition to President Pranab Mukherjee, who rejected it on February 3, 2013. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde signed on his execution order a day later on February 4. Guru was finally hanged at 8 am on Saturday in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

The 43-year-old Guru, a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist, was sentenced to death in 2002 by a special court for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack case which was later upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004.

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