Man without valid ID met Yakub Memon in jail, NCP MLC alleges

Mumbai, Jul 22: NCP Legislator Kiran Pawaskar on Wednesday alleged in the Maharashtra Legislative Council that there was a major security lapse at Nagpur Central Jail where a man, purportedly a lawyer, met Yakub Memon, the death row convict of 1993 Mumbai blasts case, without valid documents.

The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed Memon's curative petition against his death sentence. [Yakub Memon's final days: Here is what it looks like]

"There is substantial information that a person called Shubail Farook yesterday met Yakub Memon at the jail without having valid documents. He had an identity card issued by the Delhi bar council which had expired in January 2013. How can somebody just be allowed to go inside the high-security prison without valid documents?" Pawaskar asked.

This was not the first instance of security breach at Nagpur Jail, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, should be held answerable for this, the NCP member said.

"The government cannot shrug off its responsibility over the incident. This is the second such incident in recent times. We demand that the government make a statement on this. We need to know what conversation Shubail had with Yakub, days before Yakub is to be hanged, and whether he is a lawyer or not," Pawaskar said.

He also alleged that the mobile number used by Farook was registered in Himachal Pradesh, which also made his identity questionable. Memon is scheduled to be hanged on July 30. He is the only convict in the case to be sentenced to death.

PTI