Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 11: Two days after the execution of Parliament attack convict, Afzal Guru, in Tihar Jail, his wife today received the official intimation that he was being hanged.
The letter dated February 6, 2013, was, however, posted from General Post Office (GPO) on February 6, 2013 evening, around 15 hours before his hanging.
Aijaz Ahmad Guru, brother of Afzal Guru said that a vehicle from the post office arrived in Seer Jagir, Sopore this morning and kept the vehicle at a distance as the entire area is sealed. “Two of the postal employee crossed the barricade and walked into the house and handed over a letter to wife of Afzal Guru, Tabassum”, he added.
The letter, sent by the office of the Superintendent, Central Jail No 3, said Guru’s mercy plea has been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee and that his hanging was fixed for 8 am on February 9.
The letter was received by Guru’s wife Tabassum at 11 am today. It said: “The petition of the convict Shri Mohd Afzal Guru s/o Habibullah has been rejected by the Honorary President of India. Hence the execution of Mohd Afzal Guru s/o Habibullah has been fixed for 09-02-2013 at 8 am in Central Jail No 3. For your information and for further necessary action.”
Chief Post Master General of Jammu and Kashmir Circle John Samuel told Excelsior that the letter was booked from GPO New Delhi in the evening of February 8, and it was received in Srinagar GPO on February 9, the day Guru was hanged.
“The letter was normal speed post and there was nothing written as urgent. In that case we would have delivered it same day. Since Sunday is a public holiday, the letter was delivered this morning at 11 am,” Samuel said.
Though Union Home Secretary R K Singh had said that the family of Guru was sent a communication through speedpost, the family insisted that it has not received any such letter about Guru’s hanging, raising questions as to whether there was a serious effort to inform the family. The family has been maintaining that they had come to know about his execution only from TV channels.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the rationale of informing Guru’s family through post saying the reliability of the medium itself was questionable.
“If we are going to inform someone by post that his family member is going to be hanged, there is something seriously wrong with the system,” he had said.
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