India Tense As 1993 Mumbai Bombings Convict Hanged

The lone convict for the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings was hanged on Thursday morning after India's Supreme Court rejected last ditch efforts by defense lawyers seeking a stay of execution.



Wednesday night and the early hours before the execution were filled with drama as the Supreme Court held an unprecedented overnight special hearing at 3.20 am local time (9.50 GMT) over Yakub Memon's request for a 14-day reprieve. 



Justice Dipak Misra ruled that staying the execution would amount to a "travesty of justice" as Memon had been allowed to use all legal means to present his case.



"I am very disappointed and unhappy. The Supreme Court has made a tragic mistake," Defense lawyer Arvind Grover told reporters Thursday morning outside the top court.



The hanging has been criticized by rights groups and several newspapers because of the controversial circumstances surrounding the case, including reports that Memon had only returned to India to pass on information about the bombings. 



Memon was convicted of providing technical and logistical support to the bombings which killed 257 people and were allegedly carried out by his brother. Memon claimed however that he was unaware of the plot. 



"This morning, the Indian government essentially killed a man in cold blood to show that killing is wrong," Amnesty India tweeted.



The rights group said the execution of Memon was a "misguided attempt to prevent terrorism, and disappointing use of the justice system for retribution".



"There exists no credible proof that threat of execution is more of a deterrent to crime than a prison sentence," Amnesty India said.



The daily Indian Express wrote in an editorial on Thursday morning that the hanging should not given Indians reason to celebrate. 



"India's use of the death penalty demeans that most cherished idea on which our republic rests, the idea of justice," the editorial said. "The wounds inflicted on March 12, 1993, can be healed only by justice -- but what the hangman offers is only a crude approximation of that cherished ideal."



Mumbai has been converted into a fortress as Memon's body was being taken to the city from Nagpur jail, where he was executed.



Seven members of Memon's family flew from Nagpur to Mumbai, where he will be buried.



Mumbai Police have arrested 300 men as "preventive detention" to avoid any public disruptions. 



"So far, we have not witnessed any untoward incident," a senior anti-terrorism police official told Anadolu Agency. - Maharashtra