‘Wrong to say India could not catch Tiger Memon so executed Yakub’: Ajit Doval

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday said that it is extremely wrong to assume that 1993 Mumbai terror attacks convict Yakub Memon was executed by the government as the latter’s brother and one of the primary accused in the attack, Tiger Memon, could not be caught.

“It’s wrong to assume so. I do not agree with it at all. It’s like slapping my grandchildren when you cannot slap me,” Doval said.

Yakub was hanged at the Nagpur Central Jail this morning after his second mercy plea before President Pranab Mukherjee was rejected late last night.

In an unprecedented move, a three-judge bench of the apex court presided over a fresh hearing of the case throughout the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday before dismissing the final appeal for mercy by Yakub, the only person to be sentenced to death for the series of bombings in Mumbai.

Yakub was convicted for being the “driving spirit” behind the blasts that killed at least 257 people at separate landmarks in the financial capital, including the Bombay Stock Exchange and two crowded markets. (ANI)