Hang Afzal? 'Secular' concerns

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<!--emo&:grenade--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/grenade.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='grenade.gif' /><!--endemo--> <b>Meerut hangman Mamu gets the call for Afzal</b>
Siddharth Kalhans / M V R RAO Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 0000 hrs <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->LUCKNOW, MEERUT, OCTOBER 11: While a mercy petition for Afzal Guru, the man convicted to hang for the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament, is pending with the President, <b>the Uttar Pradesh Directorate of Prisons has set in motion the official process to nominate Mamu, a hangman from Meerut, for the job</b>.

Mamu is the son of hangman Kallu who hanged Indira Gandhi’s assassins Kehar Singh and Satwant Singh and Ranga and Billa, convicted for the killing of the Chopra children.

Confirming this, State Senior Superintendent of Prisons Suresh Chandra said that Mamu has been asked to be prepared to reach Tihar Jail any time now.

“Mamu has been appointed the jallad to hang Afzal in Tihar,” Chandra told The Indian Express today, “and the official communication has been despatched to him.”

Asked when the communique was sent to Meerut, Chandra said, “It has been sent this week, we cannot disclose the exact date.”

When told that Mamu claims he hasn’t received any note, Chandra said: “He is not authorised to disclose these details.”

Chandra said the the prison department of the state government will be ready to send Mamu to Tihar for the hanging by October 20. “He will be assisted by a hangman from Punjab,” he said.

When contacted, Kunwar Verma, in charge of the Jallad Cell at the Directorate of Prisons, confirmed that “we sought Mamu’s availability for he has not hanged anyone for some time.” He said Mamu is the “first preference” for Tihar.

siddharth.kalhans@expressindia.com<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->