Yakub Memon hanged to death at Nagpur Central Jail

1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon was hanged till death at Nagpur Central Jail at around 7:00 am on Thursday morning.

The Supreme Court early on Thursday morning rejected a last-ditch attempt by Yakub Memon to stall his execution by 14 days.

Yakub Memon
Collector of Nagpur Sachin Kurne, ADG Prison Meeram Borwankar, Judicial Magistrate Girish Joshi, Chief Medical Officer Tiwari, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College & Hospital Dean Sawadiya, Jailer Yogesh Desai were present at Yakub Memon's hanging.

Policemen deployed at Nagpur Central Jail, the site of Yakub Memon's execution
The execution was carried by the same hangman who had hung Ajmal Qasab.

Yakub Memon woke up at 5:00 am, bathed and was dressed in new clothes. He offered a 15-minute prayer following which he was given an explanation regarding his crime. Earlier last night, Memon's last wish in which he requested to make a phone call to his daughter Jubeida was fulfilled. He was hanged at the special hanging room cell at Nagpur Central Jail, construction of which cost about Rs 22 lakh.

Yakub Memon's brother Sulaiman and cousin Usman would be applying to take possession of his body. His wife and daughter are in Mumbai.
Yakub Memon's execution: Timeline of events since 1993 Mumbai blasts
Memon had challenged the rejection of his mercy petition by President Pranab Mukherjee, who was advised by union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during discussions to take the decision.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to make a statement on the issue in the state Assembly today.
The Supreme Court decision came after a day of fast-paced developments on Wednesday when the court had upheld the death warrant and the President rejected Memon's mercy petition a little before 11 pm on the advice of the government.
"Stay of death warrant would be a travesty of justice. The plea is dismissed," said Justice Dipak Misra, heading a three-judge bench, delivering the order in Court Room 4 which sealed Memon's fate.
In a late night move, Memon's lawyer mounted a last-ditch effort to save him from the gallows when they rushed to the residence of Chief Justice of India H L Dattu and petitioned him for an urgent hearing to stay the hanging on the ground that 14 days' time needed to be given to a death row convict to enable him challenge the rejection of his plea and for other purposes.
After consultations, the CJI constituted the same three-judge bench that had earlier decided on the death warrant issue to go into the late night plea.
Memon's senior counsels Anand Grover and Yug Chowdhury said the authorities were "hell bent" on executing him without giving him the right to challenge the rejection of his mercy petition by the President as right to life of a condemned prisoner lasts till his last breath.
Grover said a death row convict is entitled to 14 days reprieve after rejection of mercy plea for various purposes.
Opposing Memon's plea, Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi contended his fresh petition amounted to abusing the system.
A death warrant upheld just 10 hours ago by three judges cannot be quashed, he said, adding the whole attempt appeared intended to prolong his stay in jail and get the sentence commuted.

Memon and 11 others were slapped with the death penalty by the special TADA court in July 2007 for the 1993 bomb blasts in which 257 people were killed and 712 were injured.