New Delhi:
Afzal Guru, who was executed in Delhi's Tihar Jail at 8 this morning, was buried soon after in the prison premises, a prison official has confirmed.
Sources said Guru was buried near jail no 3, close to the spot where he was hanged. He spent nearly eight years in Tihar Jail on death row.
"Afzal Guru was very peaceful and calm during the final moments. He looked very composed," the Press Trust of India quoted a top Tihar Jail official as saying.
The government refuted reports that the family of Guru was not informed that he would be executed this morning for his role in the attack on Parliament in 2001.
Home Secretary RK Singh said Guru's family in his hometown near Sopore in the Kashmir valley, just 30 kms from Srinagar, was sent a letter via speed post which disclosed that his petition for clemency had been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on February 3 and that he would be hanged in Tihar Jail.
Sources at Tihar Jail said Guru woke up as usual at 5 am for his prayers and was then put through medical tests to check if his blood pressure and pulse were stable, required by law for convicts before they are executed.
Curfew has been imposed in Srinagar and surrounding areas to prevent reactionary violence. Many in his home state agree with human activists who say that Afzal Guru was not given a fair trial.
Guru was arrested days after five terrorists drove into the Parliament complex and opened fire. They were shot dead. Nine other people, most of them security personnel, were killed in the shootout.
Both houses of Parliament had been adjourned just before the attack and several parliamentarians were still inside the building.