Maharashtra Governor rejects Yakub Memon's mercy plea

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao today rejected the mercy petition of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon, dashing the last hope he might have had of escaping the gallows.

Memon's plea has been rejected, Government sources said.

The Governor's decision on the petition, submitted by Memon on July 21 within hours of the Supreme Court rejecting his curative petition, came immediately after the apex court dismissed his plea seeking stay on his execution slated for tomorrow.

A TDA court had in April this year set July 30 as the date for hanging Memon at the Nagpur Central Prison, where he is lodged.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court set up a three-judge bench to decide Yakub's fate after a two-judge bench was split on his plea seeking a stay on his execution.

On March 12, 1993, 12 coordinated blasts had rocked Bombay, as the city was then known, leaving 257 dead and over 700 injured.