Execution never prevents terror attack, says saddened Tharoor

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he was saddened by the execution of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon in Nagpur prison on Thursday.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he was "saddened" by 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's execution on Thursday.

Shashi Tharoor delivers his speech at the Oxford Union debate. (Screenshot from video)

"Saddened by news that our government has hanged a human being. State-sponsored killing diminishes us all by reducing us to murderers too," Tharoor tweeted.

"There is no evidence that death penalty serves as a deterrent: to the contrary in fact. All it does is exact retribution: unworthy of a government," the Thiruvananthapuram MP added.

He said: "... cold-blooded execution has never prevented a terror attack anywhere."

Yakub Memon was hanged to death in Nagpur prison early on Thursday.