Rights activist Ahsan Untoo, once a jailmate of executed Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, attempted to enact a hanging in Srinagar on Tuesday to press for the return of Guru’s body.

Around 2 pm, Untoo, along with two others, appeared at Lal Chowk with a noose around his neck. The policemen immediately snatched the rope away.

Between 2007 and 2009, Untoo shared a barrack in Tihar with Guru. He had been arrested in 2005 for attacking Parliament attack co-accused SAR Geelani in Delhi.

Untoo was also booked under Officials Secrets Act and a conspiracy to attack former president APJ Abdul Kalam. He has been acquitted in all cases.

“Guru did not fear hanging,” said Untoo. “If the government fails to return Guru’s body, I will launch an agitation.

”Recalling their days in Tihar, Untoo said, “During games, if a ball landed inside his death row cell, Guru would volunteer to get it.

'This cell is meant for me and nobody else should enter it,’ Guru used to say.”