A four-line handwritten letter written in Urdu, seeking to be spared from his death sentence — this is the mercy petition filed by Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 26/11 attacks whose death sentence was recently upheld by the Supreme Court. Kasab wrote the plea from the Arthur Road Jail. It reads: ‘Respected President of India, I have been given a death sentence. I request you to show mercy, and spare me this punishment.’

On August 29, the SC confirmed the death penalty awarded to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative by the trial court and later upheld by the Bombay high court.

Kasab handed over the mercy petition to the jail superintendent on Saturday, who gave it  to the inspector general of police (prisons).

The IG will now pass it on to the state home ministry, from where it will be given to the Union home ministry. The home ministry will then hand it to the President, the official said.

After the SC verdict, Kasab was informed about his rights and options available to him. “After contemplating for a few days, Kasab decided to ask for Presidential pardon. It is his right to do so and we have passed on the application,” said AC Rane, superintendent, Arthur Road Jail.