Govt under suspicion over informing Afzal Guru's family

More than 24 hours after Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged inside Tihar jail, the prison officials have reportedly said that they are yet to receive the acknowledgment receipt of the speed post, through which the government claimed to have sent information to Afzal's family about his execution. This has a raised questions on the credibility of the government's claims that the family had been informed ahead of the execution.

CNN-IBN has also learnt that the government may have actually kept the entire operation a top secret fearing security issues in the Valley.

On the other hand, Afzal Guru's family and relatives too maintain that they picked up information on his hanging from TV. They allege that they did not receive any information from the government. "The government didn't even give us a chance to meet him before he was hanged," said Ijaz Guru, a relative.

Human rights activist Nandita Haksar said, "They (the family members) were worried about last rites, they wanted to read the namaz and whatever they do and wanted his belongings like spectacles etc. So being his lawyers, we went with a vakalatnama to jail number 3. Nobody was there. We rang up and they said they will send someone. So we waited for an hour just for someone to receive a letter."

The government has maintained that it informed the family ahead of the execution. It said that the family had been intimated through speed post. MoS for Home RPN Singh said, "The jail authorities had sent letters to the families. The DGP of Jammu and Kashmir has been asked to inquire if the family has been informed. So I think all legal recourses were taken. The claims of family not being informed are incorrect."