The UPA-II government took its most decisive decision so far in its over three-year tenure by hanging Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab early November 21 morning, five days before the fourth anniversary of the terror attack on Mumbai.

Kasab was hanged at Pune's Yerwada Jail at 7.30 am, days after President Pranab Mukherjee had rejected his mercy petition on November 8. Within hours, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan told the media that Kasab, the only 26/11 terrorist arrested, was buried at Yerawada jail.

Interestingly, the execution comes within hours of India, along with 38 other countries, voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution that called for abolishing the death penalty, saying every nation had the "sovereign right" to determine its own legal system.  "The draft resolution sought a moratorium on executions. India could not support the text in its present form," India said in its explanation of the vote.

While an official reaction from Islamabad was still awaited, it is still unclear whether Pakistan would accept the body.

Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said the government has informed Pakistan about the execution. "The Indian mission in Islamabad (has) informed the Pakistan government about Kasab’s hanging through (a) letter. Since Pakistan refused to take the letter, it was sent through fax,” Shinde said.

External affairs minister Salman Khurshid said New Delhi is yet to receive any information from Islamabad about any demand for the body.

The union home ministry had in October recommended Pranab Mukherjee to reject Kasab’s plea.

Confirming the execution, Maharashtra’s home minister RR Patil said, “Ajmal Kasab's mercy petition was rejected on November 8. The punishment to Kasab is a tribute to the victims and martyrs of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. All due process of law has been followed.”

Shinde, meanwhile, told reporters that secrecy was maintained because it is necessary in such “sensitive matters”. He said the date and time of Kasab’s execution had been decided by the court, and simply confirmed by the home ministry. “There is no question of (political) mileage. This was already decided and the date was fixed later on. The date of the execution was decided by the court earlier and it was on the file earlier so we confirmed it,” he said.

Kasab, along with nine other associates, had sneaked into Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008, and unleashed three days of terror in south Mumbai. The attack left 168 people dead, and over 300 people injured.

Kasab was the only one captured alive from near Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station.

Since his arrest in 2008, Kasab was kept in Mumbai's high-security Arthur Road jail. He had moved supreme court on February 14, 2012 against the Mumbai high court’s death verdict on him on October 10 last year. The apex court upheld a lower court’s order sentencing the terrorist to death. The lower court had pronounced its judgment on May 6, 2010 — 18 months after he was nabbed.