Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said that the culprit of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks Mohammad Ajmal Kasab has been buried inside Pune's Yerwada Jail where he was hanged at 7:30 am this morning.


"Kasab was taken to Yerwada Jail on November 19 and his death sentence was executed in the morning today," Chavan said.

The Supreme Court had upheld the special court's verdict, which held Kasab guilty for killing 56 people at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on November 26, 2008 along with his group leader Ismail Khan.

Kasab had filed a mercy petition before President Pranab Mukherjee who turned it down on November 5. The Union Home Ministry had fixed the date of November 21 to execute Kasab.

Smita Salaskar, wife of slain encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar who fell victim to Kasab's bullet, expressed satisfaction over Kasab's hanging.

Police Inspector Salaskar was among the first causalities along with Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte during the November 2008 attacks on the megapolis.

"The sentence was executed bit late but I am satisfied. I will resume celebrating Diwali now," says Salaskar, who has stopped celebrating festivals since her husband's killing.

"The entire family is happy to hear the news that Kasab was hanged, ahead of fourth anniversary of the attack," Smita said.

The hanging would surely send a message across the globe that India would not tolerate any terror attack, Smita said, adding, "I hope death sentence of Parliament House attack convict Afzal Guru would also be executed soon."

"The first thing that comes to my mind is what happened is good. We are happy that we have got justice," wife of a railway ticket collector, who was killed in the carnage, said reacting to Kasab's hanging.

Ragini Sharma, whose husband S K Sharma was killed in the 2008 terror strike, said she would like to thank the President for rejecting Kasab's mercy plea.

"I would like to thank the President. However, it got delayed but we did get justice. I am happy that it (the hanging) was done secretly, otherwide some human rights people would have opposed it," she said.

Vishnu Zende, an announcer at the Chhtrapati Shivaji Terminus, the railway station here which was one of the targets of the attack, said, "I had never thought that I would get to hear this news like this. "I am very happy that he has been hanged. All the people who died in the terror attack have been given tribute by hanging him," Zende, who had helped save many lives by making announcements over the public address system in the station about the strike, said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena said that Kasab's execution was Maharashtra government's tribute to late Bal Thackeray.

"It is Maharashtra government's tribute to late Balasaheb Thackeray," commented Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut.
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