The UPA Government is unlikely to hand over the body of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged and buried in Tihar Jail, to his family.
A senior MHA official on Monday said Afzal was executed and buried in Jail No 3 as per the prison manual, and the government would not hand over his body, considering law and order situation in the Kashmir valley.
The official said a final decision on the issue will be taken soon and the Jammu and Kashmir Government, which had forwarded a letter of Afzal’s wife Tabassum demanding handing over of the body and his personal items, would be informed. Afzal’s family members had requested the government to return his spectacles, clothes and a radio. On February 9, the day of Afzal’s execution, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said, Afzal was buried as per the jail manual. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had expressed his displeasure to Shinde last week for mishandling the entire event.