Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, today agreed on a ceasefire to end a week-long violence in which at least 150 people have been killed. 

Bashar al-Assad is usually among the first to rush out loud rhetoric during an Israeli onslaught on the Hamas-held Gaza Strip. Styling himself as the only genuine Arab defender of the Palestinians '" and deriding his peers as ambivalent if not outright Israeli accomplices '" the Syrian leader has often exploited the Arab cause to shore up his domestic standing.

Strongly opposing FDI in multi- brand retail, Madhya Pradesh BJP today said the decision will only help companies like Walmart which were being "pushed out" of the US market, and render lakhs of Indians jobless. 

Trinamool Congress to move no-confidence motion against UPA government in Parliament on Thursday, party sources tell PTI.

Four army personnel, including an officer, have been indicted in Court of Inquiry ordered into Congo sex scandal, Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh has said.

Describing the Mumbai terror attack case and its trial as unique, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria said the execution of Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab is the best fitting tribute to victims as well as security personnel who laid down their lives fighting terrorists.

"After laborious and painstaking probe, Kasab was given a fair trial by the judiciary in an impartial manner. This is the beauty of our legal system and the sanctity of our democracy," said Maria, who was then the joint commissioner of police (crime) and headed the 26/11attack probe.

"This was a unique trial as the chargesheet was completed within the stipulated 90 days with 99 police personnel put on the job. The trial commenced in April 2009 and was completed in a record time of 110 working days," the high-profile Indian Police Service officer added.

India Against Corruption today welcomed the hanging of Ajmal Kasab at Pune's Yerwada Jail.

The execution will bring relief to the families of the victims of the 26/11 and hope to the countless who are still awaiting justice, IAC said in a statement. However, it said that the government should not have shrouded the hanging in secrecy.

"A transparent approach would have given a strong message to the world, a clear warning to terrorist groups, and most important, confidence to the citizens that the state is capable of dispensing justice. This much awaited execution could have been handled such that it would unite Indians in the fight against terrorism. On the contrary, the manner in which it has been handled has given rise to numerable conspiracy theories which could have been avoided," the statement said.

The Prime Minister got to know about Ajmal Kasab's hanging from television, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told NDTV this evening.

The entire process leading up to the execution of the only terrorist caught alive after the 26/11 terror strike was kept so secret that neither did most Cabinet minister not know, even Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other top party leaders were kept unaware.

Read the full story here

Both the central and Maharashtra governments have spent around Rs 29.5 crores on Ajmal Kasab to provide him food, security, medicines and clothes during his confinement in Arthur Road Central prison in Mumbai, official sources said today.       

Indo-Tibetan Border Police deployed around 250 guards for Kasab in the prison since his arrest in November2008 till October 2012 and expenditure on this count worked out to Rs 26 crore, sources said.       

Maharashtra government spent around Rs 3.47 crore on Kasab including food (Rs 42,313), security (Rs 1,46,81,794), medicines (Rs 39,829) and clothes (Rs 1,878).       

The state government also incurred an expenditure of Rs 2 crore on building a bullet and bomb proof cell for Kasab in the Central Prison at Arthur Road.

The Muslim community in the city today welcomed the execution of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab saying by doing this India had rightly conveyed to the world that it has zero tolerance towards terrorism.

And at Faridkot village, Pakistani security and intelligence agencies today barred journalists and television cameramen from entering Ajmal Kasab's hometown in Punjab province.

The security personnel, who were in plain clothes and pretended to be villagers, stopped reporters from entering Faridkot village, located 150 km from the Punjab capital of Lahore, several journalists said.

The personnel tried to snatch cameras from crews of some TV news channels and manhandled them when they argued they had come to Faridkot to film and interview Kasab's neighbours. 

"I have studied up to the 4th standard from the government primary school. After leaving school, I went to Lahore. My brother Afzal stays at Galli No. 54, R.No. 12, Mohalla Tohit Abad, near Yadgar Minar, Lahore. I did labour jobs at different places till 2005. During that period I used to visit my native place. In the year 2005, I had a quarrel with my father. Therefore, I left my house and went to Ali Hajveri Darbar at Lahore." -- The confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab. Read 

Hours after the hanging of Ajmal Kasab in India, the news was no longer among the main headlines on the Pakistani channels, having been replaced by the events in Gaza and domestic developments.

Though state-run Radio Pakistan and private networks like Geo News led their morning bulletins with the development, by the afternoon it was no longer a major story.

The cautious handling by the news channels of the early morning execution of 25-year-old Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, reflected the muted response in the public sphere.

Most news outlets, including TV channels and websites of leading newspapers like Dawn and The Express Tribune, reported the event without offering any comment or analysis.

Kasab's Pakistani nationality has been a sensitive issue since the Mumbai attacks and reporting by the Pakistani media on most matters related to the assault, including the ongoing trial of seven Pakistanis, has mostly been perfunctory.

In other news: The Delhi High Court says that cricket updates go into public domain after two minutes.
In a gist, what this means is this:
- Ball by ball updates of Cricket matches are will now be delayed by 2 minutes, except in cases of key events like wickets.
- Online updates and Mobile VAS related to Cricket are permissible, as long as they dont directly reproduce audio and video feeds from Cricket Matches, and incorporate a 2 minute delay from the broadcast.
- Which events come under qua momentary news are likely to be a bone of contention between rights owners (like STAR) and other players like websites, telecom operators and VAS companies, but as long as there is a 2 minute delay, its fine to provide updates.
- There were claims that the Madras High Court judgment allowed a delay of 6-8 minutes before commercial exploitation. We were not sure of the validity of that claim, but this sets the record straight its two minutes before an event goes into public domain.  Read

Madhavankutty Pillai on the execution of Kasab: You and I want to live, preferably with happiness and prosperity, but even miserable and penniless we still hang on. The jihadist has the opposite consideration. His objective is to die. He is in a sense already dead.

To you and I, capital punishment is a lesson in good citizenship. When the state kills someone, it is to say this is what will happen to you if you do what this condemned man did. When the state kills a jihadist, it is to him only the successful culmination of his mission.

Ajmal Kasab came here to die. It would not matter to him if it was by the bullet of a soldier like the others in his group or by a noose after due process. That is why when Indians erupt in glee at Kasab's hanging they don't comprehend that it is in fact Kasab who has got closure.

You can still make this argument without saying capital punishment is right or wrong. In a country like India the idea that life is sacrosanct for the state is absurd. From Kashmir to the North East to the Maoists, the state's hand in the killing of people has never been in question.

Even the local trains of Mumbai kill 4,000 people every year and it's been decades since any government's conscience batted an eyelid on that. If Indian liberals should now quibble about a judicial killing, then they just don't get the farce.

What we do need to be clear about is that Kasab's execution was not a deterrent. No one in his right mind could believe that. For a terrorist  planning another strike against Mumbai, fear of death is the last thing to hold him back.

To the vast majority of India, Kasab's killing was an act of well-deserved revenge. There is nothing wrong in that except what purpose does it serve? Those who planned the 26/11 attacks are still alive and a foot soldier is, well, just a brainless trigger.

One jihadist completed what he came for. And now the government will tie itself up in knots over Afzal Guru and all the others in death row.In a sense, Kasab was fortunate. Instead of spending decades waiting for death, he got something few other Indians get'"speedy justice.

Chandru tweets: But for Bal Thackeray and Kasab, this wud have top news, unprecedented in India. Delhi HC quashes Army promotions from Maj gen to Lt Gen.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the Ponty Chadha killing, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Centre asking the parameters for issuing gun licences to private security personnel.

Amnesty International India's  press release on the execution of Kasab...

The execution of Ajmal Kasab for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks undoes much of the progress India has made over the death penalty, Amnesty International said.

Kasab, a Pakistani national, was hanged this morning at Yerawada prison in Pune city. He was convicted in 2010 by a special court for his involvement in the Mumbai attacks during which more than 150 people were killed and in excess of 250 were injured.

The more than 80 charges he was found guilty of included committing acts of terrorism and criminal conspiracy to commit murder.

"Today's execution means India has taken a significant step backwards and joined that minority of countries that are still executing," said Shashikumar Velath, Director-Programmes at Amnesty International India.

Ajmal Kasab's death sentence was upheld by India's Supreme Court on 29 August 2012, and his mercy petition was reportedly rejected by the President on 5 November.Prior to Kasab's filing of his petition, eleven mercy petitions from persons on death row were pending before the President.

Ajmal Kasab's lawyer and family in Pakistan were not informed of the imminent execution, in violation of international standards on the use of the death penalty.

"We recognize the gravity of the crimes for which Ajmal Kasab was convicted, and sympathise with the victims of these acts and their families, but the death penalty is the ultimate cruel and inhuman form of punishment,' said Shashikumar.

"We are also deeply disconcerted both by the unusual speed with which his mercy petition was rejected, as well as the secrecy that surrounded his execution.

'The resumption of executions in India comes just two days after the UN General Assembly's human rights committee adopted a draft resolution calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to completely abolishing it.

"The UN GA's vote confirms the global trend moving firmly towards an abolition of the death penalty.Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as it violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"The Organization opposes capital punishment in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.

"The Indian authorities should immediately establish an immediate moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, in line with UN General Assembly resolutions adopted since 2007."

On the ground on the night the Mumbai attacks, by Phil Smith. Smith is General Manager for Reuters News, South Asia and at the time of the 2008 attacks was Reuters Editor, South Asia based in Mumbai and living near Nariman House. Read
 

amitdandona tweets: News Channels are quite Upset that #kasab was hanged in secrecy. they didnt get a chance to ask aapko kaisa mehsus ho raha hai

Ajmal Kasab's identity remained C-7096 throughout his prison term and even when an official dossier was written for his hanging. The movement and activities of Kasab, who was hanged today in a prison in Pune, was always kept very secret and when official documents were moved regarding his hanging after the President rejected his mercy plea, he was identified by this number.

The number was tagged to Kasab by the authorities at the Arthur Road jail and sources said only top officials in the security establishment had access to files related to inmate number 'C-7096'. Sources said when Kasab was moved from Mumbai to Yerwada jail in Pune the same number was used to communicate signals of his movement.

"The idea was not just to kill those hundreds of people," historian Ramachandra Guha tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, "the idea was to provoke people against Muslims. It is really shocking that Pakistan is in denial about what happened in Mumbai." Read

The 2008 Guardian story on Kasab's birthplace in Pakistan. Pakistan has denied this story.  Read

Wednesday appears to be a day of significance in the life of Ajmal Kasab, who was hanged today. It was on a Wednesday that the Pakistani gunman had entered Mumbai along with his nine other Lashker-e-Taiba(LeT) terrorists to carry out the deadly attack. 25-year-old Kasab, the lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attack, was hanged today--a Wednesday--at 7.30 am at Yerwada central jail in prison.

The rubber-inflated boat carrying Kasab and his nine accomplices had arrived at Kolivada colony in Colaba on the evening of November 26, 2008 from where they unleashed a wave of attacks during a 60-hour siege killing 166 people.

Kasab was arrested by Mumbai police at Marine Drive on the same night. Cine star Anupam Kher, whose performance in "A Wednesday"--a movie dealing with the terrorism subject--has been widely appreciated also saw tweets from his fans. "What co-incidence, Ajmal Kasab hanged on Wednesday and your movie 'A Wednesday' dealing on the same topic!" said a Twitter post.

The Maharashtra government had decided two months ago to execute Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab today at the Yerwada prison in Pune, Home Minister R R Patil said today.

"The Supreme Court upheld Kasab's death penalty on August 29 this year. On September 9, the state government began process for implementation of the death penalty.

On September 11, in consultation with the additional sessions judge, the date for execution of Kasab's death penalty was fixed for today," Patil said today.

RR Patil also clarified that the state government would not be bearing the expenditure incurred by the security cover provided to Kasab by the ITBP personnel. "We had earlier also said that the Central government should bear the expense as the attack was not just on Maharashtra but on the entire nation. We have not yet received any response from the Centre," Patil said.
The cost of securing Kasab is reportedly a whopping Rs 40 crore. 

Pic: Celebrations break out after news of Kasab's execution was made public. Reuters 

According to state home minister R R Patil, the hangman who executed Kasab was paid Rs 5,000 for the job. "Earlier, the hangman used to get Rs 10. Now it is Rs 5,000.

Although we had received several applications from persons expressing their willingness to do the job for free, the government felt it would be best if an authorised person does it," Patil said.

Before Kasab, the last person to be executed in Maharashtra was in 1995, Patil said.

A special inspector general of police in Maharashtra and 16 handpicked men oversaw Operation X leading to the death by hanging of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal  Kasab on Wednesday. 

The process was quietly initiated shortly after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Kasab's mercy.

The chosen team's mission was to hang and bury the 25-year-old Kasab in complete secrecy in Pune's Yerawada Central Jail, where he would be moved from Mumbai.

Once Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde signed the file from the President's office on November 7 and sent it to the Maharashtra government the next day, the police team took charge.

Only a handful knew that Kasab would hang on November 21 morning. These included Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh, earlier the Pune police chief, and Meeran Borwankar, who heads the Yerawada jail, and those at the helm in the state intelligence department and Mumbai CID.

Yerawada is one of the two jails in Maharashtra--the other being Nagpur Central Jail--where hanging facilities are available.  Pune's proximity to Mumbai played a role. An expert hangman was summoned. -- IANS.

Hours after 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab was executed, terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba on Wednesday described the Pakistani national as a 'hero'. A senior commander of the LeT reportedly said Kasab was a "hero" who will inspire more attacks.

"He was a hero and will inspire other fighters to follow his path," the commander of the Pakistani militant group accused of masterminding the attack told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location. 

Former NSG Commando P V Maneesh, who had suffered serious head injuries in the Mumbai 26/11 terror attack, said Ajmal Kasab's hanging will increase the "morale and courage" of soldiers who risk their lives to protect the Nation's interests.

"Like all Indians, I also feel very happy hearing about his hanging," he said when contacted from Kochi. "This verdict will increase the morale and courage of each soldier as Kasab was awarded appropriate sentence," he said. Maneesh, who was at the holy shrine of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala early today to offer worship, heard about Kasab's hanging as he came out of the temple complex.

Maneesh, who was with the NSG's elite 51 Special Action Group, was part of the team that took on terrorists at the Oberoi Hotel. He was seriously injured in a grenade blast and still has a piece of shrapnel lodged on the left side of his head. A small part of his skull was blown away in the blast as three shrapnel had pierced into his skull.

While two were removed, he said he still has a 11 mm piece inside his head. Doctors have said it cannot be removed as it would endanger his life, he said. Maneesh, who is paralysed on one side and suffers fits, is presently undertaking ayurvedic treatment, and is now with to the 122 T A Battalion at Kannur.

Pic: Six explosions were reported at the Taj hotel (pictured) - one in the lobby, two in the elevators, three in the restaurant, while the central dome was in ashes at the end of the operation.

"One who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind", RJD President Lalu Prasad said about the hanging of 26/11 Mumbai attack convict Ajmal Kasab today. "Law has taken its own course," Lalu said adding, Kasab has been hanged after following due procedure of law of the country. LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan echoing him said, the Parliament attack case too is being dealt in accordance with the existing laws of the country.

Home Minister Sushil kumar Shinde says a very small group had been kept in the loop about the date of Kasab's hanging. "The matter was never discussed with the Congress Core group and neither did Sonia Gandhi know about it. It was the court that chose the date and the President expedited it," says Shinde in an interview to CNN IBN. 

Ashish Chowdhry tweeets: I will NOT teach my children to rejoice anyone's death; be it Kasab. They will learn to be non-vindictive,non-fanatical and will love all.

Bollywood actor Ashish Chowdhury's sister Monica and brother-in-law were among the many hostages killed at the Trident Hotel during the 60-hour siege of Mumbai. Read his 2009 interview rediff.com, a year after the massacre. 

A father remembers. A GT Hospital sweeper, whose son was shot dead by Ajmal Kasab on the night of November 26, 2008, never expected the terrorist to be executed. He speaks to Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Daniel Pande on life then and life now. Read

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah cancelled his press conference today, immediately after he heard that Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab had been hanged this morning.

The scheduled 'meet the media' has been cancelled," Anil Anand,secretary general of Press Club of India confirmed during his conversation with rediff.com's Onkar Singh. "Following the developments, I guess I will postpone this week's press interaction till the first week of December," Anand added.

Omar expects trouble to erupt following the hanging of Kasab and feels that he should be Jammu for next few weeks to deal with any eventuality. 

Sushil Kumar Shinde adds that the Additional Sessions Court decided on the date of hanging and it was the decision of the MHA to keep the hanging secret.
When asked whether Kasab's hanging would mean that the 12 other mercy petitions pending with the President would be expedited, Shinde said, "Knowing Pranab Mukherjee's style of working, he will not keep files (on other mercy petitions) pending with him for long. The government is working quickly on everything, but we want to say that the government will not take credit or claim political mileage for the hanging."

Shinde added that Kasab was brought to Yerwada jail in Pune, because unlike Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, it has facilities for hanging. "I also want to reiterate that the cancellation of Rehman Malik, the Pakistan home minister's visit to India is not related to the hanging.

Fitting tribute: People celebrating Kasab's execution. Pic: Reuters

Pepsi pays Rs 396.8 crore to win title rights of IPL. Details awaited. 

The 'top-secret execution' of Ajmal Kasab, convicted for perpetrating the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai four years ago, diminishes us all Indians.
Read MK Bhadrakumar's column for rediff.com.

Afzal Guru, Kasab, Sushilkumar Shinde, President Pranab Mukherjee,GOI, Dengue, Pak,India, Pune and Pakistan.

That's what's trending on Twitter today. Point to note is that Afzal Guru has, who was convicted for conspiracy in the December 13, 2001, attack on Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 2004, is trending before Kasab and related trends on his hanging today. Guru's clemency plea is pending with President Pranab Mukherjee.
Read our 13:36 pm post: President moves files on Afzal Guru: TV reports

Ajmal Kasab, who was hanged today, had during the 26/11 trial surprised the Judge, policemen and court officers with his humour and grasping power so much so that he picked up Marathi and even conversed in it with everyone around him. 

"Nahin, Nahin, Taap Nahin (No, No, I don't have fever)," he had once said in Marathi in the court three years ago when the staff enquired from him whether he was unwell.

Ever since the trial began in May 2009, Kasab, a fourth standard dropout of an Urdu medium school, had been keenly observing the proceedings and picked up bits of English and even Marathi as witnesses, lawyers and the judge spoke in those languages although the evidence was recorded in English.

"Tumhi Nighun Ja (You may leave)," were the first words in Marathi which Kasab learnt as Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam would utter these to him after the court proceedings.

Not short on humour, Kasab used to say sometimes "Tumhi Nighun Ja" to Nikam during the lunch recess before both of them burst into laughter, breaking the sombre monotony of the court proceedings.

The lone surviving terrorist of 26/11 Mumbai attack was often heard wishing "good morning" to Special Court Judge M L Tahaliyani. On occasions when witnesses deposed in English, the judge would ask him "have you followed?", drawing a nod in assent from Kasab.

Victims react: 13-year-old Devika Rotwan: "I am very happy that Kasab has been hanged. But I would have been happier if this would have been done in public. It's good news that a terrorist has been hanged... Wish this should have been done on the anniversary of the attack this year."  Devika, a Std IX student now, had gone to CST with her family and was waiting for a train, when Kasab and Abu Ismail opened fire. 

She was also the youngest witness to depose in the trial.

Ajmal Kasab was awakened in the wee hours of Wednesday. About half an hour was spent in bath and prayers. He was then given new clothes to wear. Rediff.com's Devidas Deshpande narrates what transpired in the run-up to Operation X -- as terrorist Ajmal Kasab's hanging was codenamed. Read

Pakistan's Taliban movement expressed shock today over India's execution of Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of a militant squad that killed 166 people in a rampage through the financial capital Mumbai in 2008. "There is no doubt that it's very shocking news and a big loss that a Muslim has been hanged on Indian soil," Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan told Reuters.

More than 203 people had signed a petition addressed to President Pranab Mukherjee, who rejected the clemency petition filed by Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, asking him to pardon the 25-year-old sentenced to death in the 26/11 terror attacks case.

Mumbai-based lawyer Yug Chaudhry had written to the President on October 28 and sought public support for his petition seeking the commutation of the death sentence handed out to Kasab, that was executed at Pune's Yerwada Jail on Wednesday morning. Read

Defence lawyers, who appeared for Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab in the sessions and Bombay High Court here, today welcomed his execution and said that by taking his case out of turn, the government has brought some peace to the victims of the 26/11 terror attack.

Defence lawyers Amin Solkar, Farhana Shah and Abbas Kazmi, however, raised questions on the secrecy over the hanging. "It is good that the government expedited this case as it must have been done in the interest of the society and victims. May be guarding him for so long was becoming a burden on the exchequer. But why the secrecy ?" Solkar said.

Endorsing Solkar's view, Farhana Shah said, "I was shocked. It was all of a sudden. Why was the execution shrouded in such secrecy." Solkar and Shah defended Kasab in the High Court after they were appointed by it to appear for the accused.

Initial reaction in Pakistan to India's execution of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani citizen whose confessed role in the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai had become an awkward embarrassment, was studiously muted. Even the most popular cable television station, Geo News, downplayed the development in its morning news bulletins, offering no analysis or comment. The government offered no official statement. Read more here.

Omar Abdullah tweets: Hamas are terrorists but Kasab was a "gunman". Well done American media you really call it like it is. *sarcasm*

Omar Abdullah: Gotta hand it to the Govts at the centre & in Mumbai for the mature way they handled this. Shows we can still keep a secret if we need to.

Pakistan claims that the note sent by the Indian government informing them that Kasab's execution had been received and acknowledged. The note on Kasab's execution was recd by the Director General South Asia from the Indian Dy High Commissioner yesterday.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said today that India had informed in advance Pakistan and the family members of Ajmal Kasab about the decision to hang the 2008 Mumbai attack terrorist, but Islamabad refused to acknowledge the letter,

"The External Affairs Ministry through our mission in Islamabad had informed the Pakistan government about Kasab's hanging. When they did not accept the letter, they were communicated through fax," Shinde told reporters here, hours after the hanging of the only captured terrorist in the attack.

This is the report published November 21, on India voting against the UN resolution abolishing the death penalty just yesterday. Telling, in retrospect.

Is India serious enough to hang 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab? The answer seems to be yes. India on Monday, Nov 19 voted against a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) draft resolution which called for abolishing the death penalty. India's contention is that every nation had the "sovereign right" to determine its own legal system.  Read

"Ajmal Kasab's hanging reminds me of failures," says former Indian Police Service officer Y P Singh.PS officer-turned-activist to Rediff.com's Archana Masih Read

CNN IBN reports that President Pranab Mukherjee has sent 12 files to Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for his recommendation. Government sources tell the channel that a decision on Afzal Guru can be expected soon.

NDTV reports: The Congress' Digvijaya Singh had tweeted hours after Kasab was executed, "Finally Kasab hanged. GOI should pursue the case of the Handlers in Pakistan. Afzal Guru's case should also be expedited now."

He was in rare consonance with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted minutes before the senior Congress leader, "What about Afzal Guru, who attacked Parliament, our temple of democracy, in 2001? That offence predates Kasab's heinous act by many years."

Ajmal Kasab's swift execution this morning has brought attention to another prominent prisoner on death row, Afzal Guru, who was convicted for conspiracy in the December 13, 2001, attack on Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 2004.
 
Guru's death sentence was scheduled to be carried out on October 20, 2006, but was stayed after his wife filed a mercy petition. The Home Ministry had recommended in August last year to then President Pratibha Patil that Afzal Guru be hanged. But Rashtrapati Bhawan is yet to move on that file.

Senior Inspector Nagappa R Mahale was in charge of the D B Marg police station -- the first police station to respond -- on November 26, 2008. Little did Mahale realise then that he would be making headlines, reports Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar. Read

The big news story till yesterday, overshadowed, quite obviously by Ajmal Amir Kasab's hanging. PTI reports that the Trinamool Congress has raised the issue of the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha Speaker's all-party meet; no other party mentioned it. That's what NDA convenor, Sharad Yadav says.

According to official sources, a senior jail official read out the death warrant to Kasab at his cell and also informed him that his clemency petition had been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.

After reading out his death warrant, Kasab, who was part of the 10-member Lashkar group that carried out the dastardly attack on November 26, 2008, was asked to sign it which he did, the sources said.

Later, he was taken by the Yerawada Jail police and the local police was kept out of the loop to maintain secrecy of the operation. Barring a couple of officers, the 200-strong contingent of ITBP, which has been guarding him since March 2009, had been kept out of loop about his transfer to Pune jail.

The sources said the ITBP jawans continued to guard the empty high-security cell, which had been housing 25-year-old Kasab.

Ajmal Kasab had been informed about his hanging on November 12. He had said this should be communicated to his mother in Pakistan: Union Home Ministry sources.

K Unnikrishnan, father of NSG commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was killed in the Taj Hotel strike, said, "The way in which the execution has been done, it is a model way.

"Before anybody could react to the rejection of the mercy petition (of Kasab), everything is over. That is the thing which I cherish." Unnikrishnan, a retired ISRO official, said, "Definitely there was a long way to go for the sense of closure...Kasab's execution is only one chapter. The perpetrators are still moving around in Pakistan and the anti-India thinking in Pakistan is too much now, it should come down."

He said finally justice has been done in one case. "...The root cause is hatred that is still there and in my opinion that spoils the general calm attitude in India. I still feel many more things have to be done. We should not lose the momentum because we have hanged a culprit. That is not closure," Unnikrishnan said.

And the report on Reuters: Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, last surviving Mumbai attacker, executed in India.

This is what the Washington Post says of Kasab's hanging. Read

For all those feel Kasab should have been kept alive, read this story...Thirsty Kasab had come knocking. Jamnaben Waghela's son gave him water. He drank and shot the son dead. Read more

"Kasab was just one cog in the wheel. He was just a pawn in the game of chess,' Divya Salaskar, senior inspector Vijay Salaskar's daughter told rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore over the phone.

"Until the masterminds in Pakistan are weeded out the cycle of terror attacks on Indian cities will continue, she said. "Hanging Kasab is not the solution to terror attacks in India,' she said. "It is just one small step to oppose terrorism and to show the perpetrators India's resolve to fight the menace."

While expressing her sorrow she said that had her father been alive today and had she been killed in a terror attack, he would have left no stone unturned to get the perpetrators to justice. "If I were a victim of a terror attack and if my father were alive, he would have gone to Pakistan to hunt down the terrorists," Divya said.

Ajit Ranade: for @nytimes he is "attacker". for BBC he is "gunman". what does it take to call Kasab a "killer"?

Salman Alvi: Now that Kasab is hanged, how about prosecuting the culprits behind Samjhota Express massacre. Sanity must prevail. Justice must be served.

Anirudh Rao: Should we be celebrating kasab death? Definitely. Not because of the life lost but justice served.

Yogita Limaye: People gathering, mostly shiv Sena supporters chanting slogans, distributing sugar outside yerawada jail in Pune.

Mahadevan Jayaram: A terrorist was hanged and a brainwashed human being died. 

"The first thing that comes to my mind is what happened is good. We are happy that we have got justice," wife of a railway ticket collector, who was killed in the 26/11 Mumbai attack, said today reacting to Pakistan terrorist Ajmal Kasab's hanging.Ragini Sharma, whose husband S K Sharma was killed in the 2008 terror strike, said she would like to thank the President for rejecting Kasab's mercy plea.

"I would like to thank the President. However, it got delayed but we did get justice. I am happy that it (the hanging) was done secretly, otherwide some human rights people would have opposed it," she said.

Vishnu Zende, an announcer at the Chhtrapati Shivaji Terminus, the railway station here which was one of the targets of the attack, said, "I had never thought that I would get to hear this news like this."I am very happy that he has been hanged. All the people who died in the terror attack have been given tribute by hanging him," Zende, who had helped save many lives by making announcements over the public address system in the station about the strike, said.

Of the 28 mercy petitions pending with the Central Government, 21 cases are pending with the President's Secretariat while seven are with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Article 72 of the Constitution empowers the President to grant pardon, suspend and remit death sentences and commute the death sentence of convicts on death row. The process explained, on the Indian Express. Read

Smita Salaskar, wife of slain encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar who fell victim to the bullets of terrorists during the Mumbai carnage, today described the hanging of Ajmal Kasab as a "homage" to her husband.

"Though the execution was delayed, Kasab was finally hanged. With this hanging, homage has been paid to my husband. But the real homage will be the conviction of other accused shielded in Pakistan," Smita said.

Thanking President Pranab Mukherjee for rejecting the mercy plea of the Pakistani gunman, Smita said, "Late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had also demanded Kasab's hanging. His wish and our wish have been finally fulfilled." "The entire family is happy to hear the news that Kasab was hanged, ahead of fourth anniversary of the attack," Smita said.

This morning, however, Kasab was nervous, Yerawada jail officials told rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa. 

Kasab said his prayers and then headed out to the gallows. He told the authorities that he had no last wish and did not wish to contact anyone in his home country.

A hood was then placed on his head and after a bit of struggle, it was all over quickly and smoothly.

Authorities are unwilling to divulge the name of the hangman who carried out the execution. There are contradictory views on the same. While some maintain that it was a constable in the jail who hanged Kasab after training for a couple of weeks, others insist it was a person by the name Rathan from Mumbai carried out the hanging.

Police officers say that they wish to be discreet about the hangman as this was a high profile execution and they did not want him to come into the limelight unnecessarily. 

Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa reports that before he was hanged, Ajmal Kasab was asked if he had any last wish and whether he would like to write his Will. The 26/11 terrorist said 'no' to both.

Kasab, who is usually talkative, was believed to be extremely quiet over the past two days after he was told about the date of his hanging, an official told Rediff.com.

Kasab, however, did ask if there was any room for appeal and when he was told that there wasn't any, he was resigned to his fate.

Nov 26, 2008: Kasab and 9 terrorists launch commando raid in Mumbai.

Nov 27, 2008: At 1.30am, Kasab caught and placed under arrest, admitted to Nair Hospital.

Nov 29, 2008: All places under siege secured, 9 terrorists killed.

Nov 30, 2008: Kasab confesses before police.

Dec 27/28, 2008: Identification parade held.

Jan 13, 2009: M L Tahaliyani appointed 26/11 judge.

Jan 16, 2009: Arthur Road Jail selected for Kasab's trial.

Feb 5, 2009: Kasab's DNA samples match with articles found in Kuber.

Feb 20/21, 2009: Kasab makes confession before magistrate.

Feb 22, 2009: Ujjwal Nikam appointed Special Public Prosecutor.

Feb 25, 2009: Chargesheet against Kasab, two others filed in court.

Apr 1, 2009: Anjali Waghmare appointed Kasab's lawyer.

Apr 15, 2009: Anjali Waghmare removed as Kasab's lawyer.

Apr 16, 2009: Abbas Kazmi appointed as Kasab's lawyer.

Apr 17, 2009: Kasab's confession opened in court, he retracts.

Apr 20, 2009: Prosecution charges Kasab on 312 counts.

Apr 29, 2009: Kasab is major: experts' opinion.

May 6, 2009: Charges framed, Kasab charged on 86 counts, but denies charges.

May 8, 2009: First eyewitness deposes, identifies Kasab.

June 23, 2009: Non-bailable warrants issued against 22 including Hafeez Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

Nov 30, 2009: Abbas Kazmi removed as Kasab's lawyer.

Dec 1, 2009: K P Pawar takes place of Kazmi.

Dec 16, 2009: Prosecution completes its case in 26/11.

Dec 18, 2009: Kasab denies all charges.

March 31, 2010: Arguments in the case end. Special Judge M L Tahaliyani reserves judgement for May 3, 2010.

May 3, 2010: Kasab convicted, Sabauddin Ahmed and Faheem Ansari acquitted of all charges.

May 6, 2010: Kasab was sentenced to death by the trial court.

Feb 21, 2011: Bombay high court upholds death sentence to Kasab.

March 2011: Kasab writes letter to SC challenging HC order.

Oct 10, 2011: SC stays execution of the death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Kasab.

Oct 10, 2011: Kasab tells SC that he was brainwashed like a "robot" into committing the heinous crime in the name of "God" and that he does not deserve capital punishment owing to his young age.

Oct 18, 2011: The Supreme Court admits Maharashtra government's appeal challenging the acquittal of Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, co-accused of Ajmal Kasab, in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

Jan 31, 2012: Kasab tells SC that he was not given a free and fair trial in the case.

Feb 23, 2012: SC hears intercepted conversations between the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and their Pakistani handlers and watched the CCTV footage of the carnage.

Apr 25, 2012: SC reserves its verdict after a marathon hearing, spanning over two and a half months.

Aug 29, 2012: SC upholds death sentence of Kasab and acquittal of two alleged Indian co-conspirators in the case.

Oct 16,2012: Union Home Ministry recommends to President for rejection of Kasab's mercy plea.

Nov 5,2012: President rejects Kasab's mercy petition.

Nov 8,2012: Maharashtra government informed about President's decision.

Nov 21,2012: Kasab hanged in Yerwada Jail in Pune.

Pic: This picture was taken by Mumbai Mirror photographer Sebastian D'Souza on the night of November 26, 2008. D'Souza was part of the prosecution witness and the photograph was one of the key exhibits that helped nail Kasab.

Brahma Chellaney: The country that dispatched Kasab on a killing mission turned its back on him even in death, refusing to accept intimation of his execution.

Riteish Deshmukh: kasab hanging - congratulations govt of India - for doing it so effectively. For once the govt broke the news n not the news 

Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said by hanging Kasab the country has paid homage to all those policemen and innocent persons who lost their lives.

"By Kasab's conviction and death penalty, we have proved how the entire conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan. We have set an example that India will not tolerate such attacks and the accused will be brought to justice," Nikam told reporters in Mumbai.

Nikam appeared for the prosecution in the sessions court and High Court and assisted senior counsel Gopal Subramanium in the apex court.

A group of Shiv Sena workers raised slogans 'Vande Mataram' slogans outside the Yerawada jail hailing the hanging of Kasab and demanded that simialr justice be meted out to Parliament attack case death row convict Afzal Guru.

Salman Khurshid said a courier was also sent to an address given by Kasab during his confessions informing about the execution. On whether India received any request for handing over of Kasab's body either from the Pakistan Government or his family, he said no such request was received.

To a question, he said it was for Pakistan to take a call on its citizen. "We have informed an address in Pakistan about the inevitable event," he said.

The Minister dismissed suggestions that Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik's visit to India was postponed because of the execution. "I don't think there is any link. The visits are decided on merit. The Home Ministry made an assessment. It was agreed that since Parliament will be in session there will not be ample time. There will be another appropriate time," he said.

This is what the Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, has on the hanging.
Ajmal Kasab hanged: Indian media. Read

The Pakistan government to CNN IBN: It is our understanding that the Indian government has jumped the queue on Kasab.
India informed the Pakistan government and Kasab's family about the "inevitable event" of his execution. "We did send a fax message to the Pakistan Foreign Office. There is no other way of communicating (the event). Though the message was not accepted we fulfilled our obligations," said Khurshid.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said action in Pakistan on 26/11 perpetrators was necessary for the "extremely unpleasant incident" in which there was "tremendous amount of tragic loss of life."

He said India let the rule of the law follow when it came to Kasab and he was even given the opportunity to file a mercy petition before the President. "This shows we see everyone as equal. Law applies for everyone and it is same for everyone," he said.

The Minister said according to legal requirements, India informed Pakistan Government and Kasab's family about the "inevitable event" of his execution. "We did send a fax message to the Pakistan Foreign Office. There is no other way of communicating (the event). Though the message was not accepted we fulfilled our obligations," he said.

Divya Salaskar, daughter PSI Vijay Salaskar: For four years I used to wonder when Kasab would be hanged.

Aditi Shinde: Daughter of PI Shashank Shinde: I am finally at peace. It's a relief that this kind of thing will not go unpunished.

India had informed in advance Pakistan and the family members of Ajmal Kasab about the decision to hang the 2008 Mumbai attack terrorist but Islamabad refused to acknowledge the letter, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said today.

"The External Affairs Ministry through our mission in Islamabad had informed the Pakistan government about Kasab's hanging. When they did not accept the letter, they were communicated through fax," Shinde told reporters here, hours after the hanging of the only captured terrorist in the attack.

Union Home Secretary R K Singh said family members of Kasab, who live in Pakistan, had also been informed by Indian High Commission in Islamabad. "His family members were communicated through courier by our High Commission. We have the receipt of the courier sent and that was later given to the Maharashtra government," Singh said.

Shinde said so far no one has claimed the body of 25-year-old Kasab and if Pakistan claims it, India would give it to the neighbouring country.

The Home Minister said there should not be any problem if Kasab is buried in India. "I do not think there will be any trouble (if Kasab is buried in India) because India has suffered too much and everyone.... and this country has seen the tragedy. 166 people were killed during three days of the carnage" that began on November 26, 2008, he said.

K Unnikrishnan, the father of slain NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan says Kasab was soft target. The perpetrators of the 26/11 roaming free in Pakistan should be brought to justice. Major Unnikrishnan was killed by the Pakistani terrorists at the Taj Mahal hotel.

Salman Khurshid speaking to news channels says, "We want to look forward. We did the right thing in the right manner. Kasab was hanged with dignity. It is now up to Pakistan to act."

India today expressed the hope that rule of law will prevail in Pakistan as well in the 26/11 attack trial like it did in the case of Ajmal Kasab here.

"Frankly speaking, we have allowed rule of law to prevail (in the case of Ajmal Kasab). Similarly we hope rule of law will be followed in Pakistan. There is not vast difference between the criminal procedures in India and Pakistan," External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said today. 

The prison authorities at Yerwada jail remained tight-lipped about the details of hanging performed in a well-guarded secret operation amid reports that Kasab did not have any death wish.

Kasab was executed after he exhausted all legal remedies available to escape the noose with President Pranab Mukherjee rejecting his mercy plea following the advice of the Union Home Ministry.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said Kasab was moved to Yeravada jail on November 19 from Arthur Road jail in Mumbai where he has been lodged.

Inspector General of Prisons Maharashtra Meeran Borwankar refused to respond media queries on the execution of Kasab. Scores of curious onlookers started crowding in front of the jail as the news spread in the city.

Reactions: Divya Salaskar, the daughter of slain senior police inspector and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar said that her family was not informed about Kasab's hanging a day in advance, as was being flashed by some channels. "We came to know about Kasab's hanging on TV this morning. We called the police department to get the confirmation and got it from there."

Incidentally, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad informed the Pakistan government about Kasab's hanging through a letter, but Pakistan refused to take the letter, which was then faxed.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid: We have fulfilled our obligations and ensured the law was followed. We have also sent a fax to the Pakistan High Commission in the matter. We hope Pakistan will now fulfill their obligations."  

Public prosecutor in the 26/11 case, Ujjwal Nikam, said he was very happy that Kasab has finally been hanged. "It will send a very strong message to the Pakistani masterminds who perpetrated the terrorist act on Mumbai and killed 166 innocent people, Nikam told rediff.com's Prasanna Zore.

When asked if Kasab's noose came a little too late given the gravity of the terror acts, Nikam said, "It did not take that long. In my reckoning, this is the fastest hanging in the history of terrorist acts." 

Television channels are reporting citing jail sources that Ajmal Kasab had no will or last wish

Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil says: "This was an attack on our country. Many of our citizens were killed, including our brave officers. Nine terrorists were killed but one was caught alive. The special 26/11 court awarded death penalty to Kasab, High Court and Supreme Court upheld it. He filed a mercy petition, but was rejected and he was hanged at 7:30 am this morning. This is a tribute to people and police officers who lost their lives during the attack. 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan says that the order to hang Kasab was given on November 8

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