Family sends cake for Yakub’s birthday as prison turns fortress, process set to start 3.30 am

WATCH: Why Nothing Could Keep Yakub Memom From The Gallows

“His eyes were moist, but Yakub did not ask any questions. Till Wednesday morning, he was hopeful and had even spoken to the SP while submitting his mercy plea addressed to the President,” a jail official said.

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Memon will be hanged at 7 am, sources said. He will be woken up at 3.30 am. He will then take a bath, read a religious text if he so desires, and eat breakfast, they said.

A special police constable has arrived from Pune to carry out the hanging, it is learnt.

Nagpur central jail, meanwhile, turned into a virtual fortress ahead of the hanging. Authorities imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, which prohibits a gathering of more than 10 persons, within 500 meters of the jail as well as in Mumbai.

Security across Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai and Nagpur, has been beefed up.

The quick response team, an elite and armed wing of the Mumbai Police created after the 26/11 terror attack, has been pressed into action. A QRT team has also been placed outside Yakub’s cell and will be on guard there till he is taken to the gallows, said Maharashtra police sources.

After the scheduled hanging, a post-mortem would be conducted and the body would be handed over to the family. The body would be flown to Mumbai by Thursday afternoon.

In Mumbai, around 5,000 policemen have been pressed to guard Yakub’s Mahim residence and the graveyard where the burial will take place. Till Wednesday night, over 500 people had been booked under preventive detention.

“People with criminal antecedents are being taken into preventive custody and would be kept under detention till the rituals are complete,” the official added.

The police have also asked community leaders to appeal for peace in the city. “Last week, we had a meeting with Muslim leaders and they have been requested to appeal to the public not to get carried away by rumours and maintain peace,” the official added.

Source said anyone trying to politicise the matter will also be taken into custody.

K P Bakshi, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Maharashtra, said the jailor will take a final call on the last rites, depending on the law and order situation.

When contacted, Joint Commissioner (Law and Order) Deven Bharti said adequate measures had been made. “Whoever takes law into their hands would be dealt with accordingly,” he said.

Yakub’s brother Suleman went inside the jail Wednesday afternoon, but there was no confirmation about whether he was allowed to meet him. Usman, his cousin, was not allowed to meet him, said Yakub’s lawyer in Nagpur Anil Gedam.

Yakub’s wife Rahin and daughter Zubeda were expected to arrive in Nagpur from Mumbai around 9 pm Wednesday, and head to the jail to meet him.