New Delhi:
2001 Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged today at the Tihar Jail at 8am, six days after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his mercy petition.
Here is a timeline of events leading to the alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist's execution:
- December 13, 2001: Five heavily armed gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened indiscriminate fire, killing nine people instantly. The victims included five Delhi Police personnel, a woman Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper, two Parliament watch and ward staff and a gardener. A journalist who was injured died later.
- December 15, 2001: Delhi Police picked up Afzal Guru, an alleged member of terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), from Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly conspiring and sheltering the militants. He was later found guilty. SAR Geelani of Delhi University's Zakir Hussain College was picked up for questioning and later arrested. Two others - Afsan Guru and her husband Shaukat Hussain Guru - were picked up later.
- December 29, 2001: Afzal Guru was sent to 10-day police remand.
- June 4, 2002: Charges were framed against four people - Afzal Guru, Geelani, Shaukat Hussain Guru, Afsan Guru and Geelani.
- December 18, 2002: A trial court awarded death sentence to Afzal Guru, SAR Geelani and Shaukat Hussain Guru, while Afsan Guru is let off.
- August 30, 2003: Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Ghazi Baba, prime accused in the attack, was killed in an encounter with the Border Security Force (BSF) in Srinagar. Three more militants along with him were also killed in the 10-hour encounter.
- October 29, 2003: Delhi High Court upheld death penalty for Afzal Guru. The court also acquitted SAR Geelani in the case.
- August 4, 2005: The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Afzal Guru but commuted Shaukat Hussain Guru's death sentence to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
- October 3, 2006: Afzal Guru's wife Tabasum Guru filed a mercy petition with former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
- January 12, 2007: The Supreme Court dismissed Afzal Guru's plea seeking review of his death sentence, said "there is no merit" in it.
- May 19, 2010: Delhi government rejected Afzal Guru's mercy petition; endorsed capital punishment awarded to him by the Supreme Court.
- December 30, 2010: Shaukat Hussain Guru released from Delhi's Tihar Jail.
- December 10, 2012: Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said he would examine Afzal Guru's file after Parliament's Winter session concluded on December 22.
- February 3, 2013: President Pranab Mukherjee rejects Afzal Guru's mercy petition.
- February 9, 2013: Afzal Guru hanged in Tihar Jail at 8 am amid tight security.