Kasab execution secret: Why Manmohan kept Sonia in dark?

Mumbai, Nov 21: Congress President

, who is also the Chairperson of UPA, was not aware about

's execution till Wednesday, Nov 21.

Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde informed that neither the president of the party nor the core party members of Congress were informed about Kasab's execution in order to maintain secrecy.

Many raised eyebrows over the statement asking that how did the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not reveal the news over the execution of the sole surviving gunman of Mumbai terror attacks 2008 to the Congress President?

In Delhi, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said he had signed Kasab's execution order on Nov 7, two days after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his clemency petition.

Kasab, who was held in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail, was then moved to Pune's Yerwada prison.

"We kept secrecy. It was important to maintain secrecy in this matter," Shinde said, adding that Pakistan had been informed of the execution.

The Indian government was under pressure to act against a man who carried out one of the deadliest attacks in the country.

Kasab was the only surviving terrorist of the 26/11 attacks, who was arrested by police. On May 6, 2010, the Mumbai trial court had given the death sentence to Kasab, which was later upheld by the Bombay High Court on Feb 12 last year.

The apex court had rejected his appeal on Aug 29. The BJP had sought that the apex court's decision awarding the death sentence to Kasab should be carried out at the earliest.

In the 26/11 attacks, 166 people were killed, when 10 men from Pakistan sailed into Mumbai. They had spent 72 hours targeting the city's landmarks on the fateful day.

OneIndia News