Afzal Guru calm, offered namaz before hanging

Afzal Guru, the Parliament attack convict, was woken up at 5am today and he offered his prayers before calmly approaching the noose about three hours later, jail officials in Tihar Jail said.

Mohammed Afzal Guru, the Parliament attack convict, was woken up at 5am on Saturday and he offered his prayers before "calmly" approaching the noose about three hours later, say officials of Delhi's Tihar Jail.

"He was very peaceful and calm during the final moments. He looked very composed," PTI quoted an unnamed senior Tihar official as saying.

Guru, who was lodged in Jail No.3 of the prison, was informed about the decision to execute him on Friday evening and looked a "little shaken" after that for a while.

Guru, 43, was executed at 8am near Jail No. 3.

"He was happy and healthy. That answers your question," said Director General of Prisons Vimla Mehra when he was asked about Guru's final moments.

A doctor checked Guru's health before he was taken to gallows near his cell.

His body was buried inside the prison complex soon after his execution.

"He (Guru) was buried with full religious rites," said another Tihar Jail official.

A maulavi performed the religious rites. Jail authorities refused to comment about whether Guru had any last wish or about any final words. Guru spent over 10 years on death row in Tihar after being convicted for his role the attack on Parliament in 2001.

Guru, a one-time fruit merchant, was hanged after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected a mercy appeal. He was only the second person to be executed in India in nearly a decade.

Guru was found guilty of conspiring with and sheltering the militants who attacked Parliament. He was also held guilty of being a member of the banned Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)