Pakistan informed before Kasab was hanged

New Delhi :  In line with protocol, Islamabad was informed before Ajmal Amir Kasab, the Pakistani caught after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, was hanged in Pune Wednesday, informed sources said.

Pakistan was also told about an address in Pakistan that Kasab had given to Indian authorities, the sources said.

Earlier in the morning, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Kasab’s mercy petition on Nov 5.

“Pakistan has been informed but there is no demand for Kasab’s body,” Shinde told the media.

“The president rejected Kasab’s mercy petition Nov 5. I had forwarded it to the Maharashtra government on Nov 8, and it was finalised that day that Kasab would be hanged on Nov 21 at 7.30 a.m.,” he said.

“Pakistan refused to accept the letter informing them of Kasab’s hanging and they returned it. So we sent them a fax as well,” he added.

Shinde said Kasab would be buried in India as Pakistan had refused to accept the body.

Asked if the hanging would cause a law and order problem, Shinde said: “I don’t think there will be any trouble (if Kasab is buried in India).”

Law Minister Salman Khurshid said India would consider any request from Kasab’s family for his body.

“If there is any request… we will do the needful,” he said.

Asked about the secrecy surrounding the hanging, Shinde said: “Such matters have to be kept secret. But as I had said earlier, we will do the needful whenever we get the papers (from the president) and we have done it.”

In Mumbai, Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil said: “This is a tribute to all the innocent people and police officers who lost their lives in the heinous attack on our nation.”

Kasab, hanged in Pune’s Yerawada Jail, was among the 10 Pakistani terrorists who sneaked into Mumbai Nov 26, 2008 and slaughtered 166 people and injured 300.