Bihar to supply rope to hang Afzal

PATNA: A Bihar jail is ready to provide the right rope to hang Mohammed Afzal, who has been sentenced to death for the 2001 terror attack on Parliament.

The Buxar Central Jail, 100 km from Patna, has a history of providing the special Manila ropes spun in the jail premises to hang convicts. The rope costs Rs 180 a kilo. “We are ready to send the rope if a demand is made,” a jail official said.

Afzal, a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist, has been sentenced to hang on October 20 at the Tihar Jail in New Delhi. But protests are gathering momentum in Jammu and Kashmir against his hanging and he can seek clemency from President APJ Abdul Kalam.

When Dhananjay Chatterjee, accused of raping and killing a 14-year-old, was hanged at the Alipore jail in Kolkata in 2004, the rope was supplied by Buxar Jail.

There are varieties of ropes made by Buxar inmates - tent rope, handcuff rope and hanging rope. The count of the yarn indicates its finesse.

A lot of hard work goes into the making of the Manila rope. First the yarn is spun into a thick thread from J-34 variety of cotton. Then the thread is smoothened by soft wax. “While making the rope it is important to ensure there are no knots in the thread,” the official added.

According to the jail records, the rope was supplied to the Andhra Pradesh government in 2003. A consignment was also sent in 1995 to the Bhagalpur Central Jail where a dozen convicts who are sentenced to death are lodged. “The demand for the hanging rope has decreased over the years as the number of cases of hanging has reduced,” jail superintendent I H Ansari said.