Yakub Memon's body handed over to family, reaches Mumbai
Yakub's brother Suleman and cousin Usman, who were camping in city since yesterday, received the body
 "Yakub Memon's body handed over to family, reaches Mumbai")
The body of Yakub Memon, who was hanged to death at the Nagpur Central Jail this morning for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, was handed over to his family. The body has now been brought to Mumbai amid tight security.
Security has been stepped up in Mumbai, especially in Mahim area where Yakub's family resides as well as other sensitive localities of the metropolis, and over 400 people have been detained as a preventive measure.
Quick Response Teams of police, formed after the 26/11 terrorist attacks, have been deployed at a few places, including the Al Hussaini building where the Memon family lives and in Marine Lines, where the burial arrangements have been made.
Memon was hanged till death in the 'Fansi Yard' under supervision of Jail Superintendent Yogesh Desai. Chief Judicial Magistrate of Nagpur M M Deshpande was present in the Fansi Yard.
Memon, who was the lone convict sent to gallows in the serial blasts which claimed 257 lives across the financial capital of country in 1993, lost a series of legal battles for stay on his execution over a period of time.
His mercy petition under Article 71 was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Even after the rejection of mercy petition by the President, Memon filed another mercy petition himself on July 21, the day when his curative petition was dismissed.
The mercy petition contended that his earlier mercy plea was filed by his brother and hence, he was entitled to file his own petition.
As a last minute effort to save 53-year-old Memon from gallows, his lawyers challenged the issuance of black warrant on July 13 contending that the death warrant was issued before the apex court could decide the curative petition.
On this, the bench of Supreme Court comprising Justices Anil Dave and Kurian Joseph gave a split verdict, prompting Chief Justice H L Dattu to constitute a three-Judge bench headed by Justice Deepak Mishra, which finally rejected all the arguments of defence and upheld the decision of the lower court to send him to gallows.
The bench felt there was no procedural lapses in the curative petition.
Its validity was upheld by the apex court.
Security has been stepped up in Mumbai, especially in Mahim area where Yakub's family resides as well as other sensitive localities of the metropolis, and over 400 people have been detained as a preventive measure.
Quick Response Teams of police, formed after the 26/11 terrorist attacks, have been deployed at a few places, including the Al Hussaini building where the Memon family lives and in Marine Lines, where the burial arrangements have been made.
Memon was hanged till death in the 'Fansi Yard' under supervision of Jail Superintendent Yogesh Desai. Chief Judicial Magistrate of Nagpur M M Deshpande was present in the Fansi Yard.
Later, his body was sent for an autopsy in the jail hospital by a medical team from a Nagpur government hospital, before being cleared for the last rites.
Initially, the jail authorities were not inclined to hand over the body and planned to perform the last rites in an isolated spot in the jail campus.
After the hanging, Memon's brother Sulaiman submitted an application to the jail authorities, demanding that the body be handed over to them so they could perform last rites.
The request was immediately processed and permission - with stringent conditions - was granted and the body handed over to the family.
"Yes Yakub Memon has been hanged at 7 a.m sharp and his body is being handed over to his family," Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed PTI in a text message.
Yakub's brother Suleman and cousin Usman, who were camping in city since yesterday, received the body. The funeral rites have been scheduled for Thursday evening.
Mumbai Police, however, has not allowed Yakub's family to hold a procession to carry the body and has made arrangements to perform the burial at a cemetery in Marine Lines, where heavy police force has been deployed.
"We have not permitted Yakub's family to reach the cemetery in any procession taking into account law and order situation and only those very close to the family would be taking part in his last rites," a senior police officer said.
"We have already gathered personal details of the people who would be with Yakub's family," he added.
Since Yakub's father Abdul Razzak and some other family members were buried at the Marine Lines cemetery, Yakub's family wished to perform his last rites there, another police officer said.
Alternative arrangements have also been made for burial at the Mahim cemetery, he said.
"We are monitoring and reviewing the security arrangements regularly," Mumbai Police spokesperson Dhananjay Kulkarni said.
Mumbai Police have detained nearly 405 people as a preventive measure to maintain law and order in the wake of Yakub's hanging.
"All the people who are detained are on police record, who might disturb the communal harmony or create disturbance in the city," said DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni.
Chief Minister Fadnavis will make a statement in the Maharashtra Legislature later in the day.
A team of doctors declared Memon dead after about half-and-hour of the scheduled hanging, when his body was brought down.Memon, who was the lone convict sent to gallows in the serial blasts which claimed 257 lives across the financial capital of country in 1993, lost a series of legal battles for stay on his execution over a period of time.
His mercy petition under Article 71 was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Even after the rejection of mercy petition by the President, Memon filed another mercy petition himself on July 21, the day when his curative petition was dismissed.
The mercy petition contended that his earlier mercy plea was filed by his brother and hence, he was entitled to file his own petition.
As a last minute effort to save 53-year-old Memon from gallows, his lawyers challenged the issuance of black warrant on July 13 contending that the death warrant was issued before the apex court could decide the curative petition.
On this, the bench of Supreme Court comprising Justices Anil Dave and Kurian Joseph gave a split verdict, prompting Chief Justice H L Dattu to constitute a three-Judge bench headed by Justice Deepak Mishra, which finally rejected all the arguments of defence and upheld the decision of the lower court to send him to gallows.
The bench felt there was no procedural lapses in the curative petition.
Its validity was upheld by the apex court.