Special hanging rope ordered for Afzal

BUXAR/BIHAR: Even as uncertainty looms over execution of Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru with his clemency petition pending with the President, Tihar jail authorities have purchased the special 'Manila' rope to be used for his hanging from Buxar jail.

A team of Tihar jail took the hanging rope with them on Saturday, Superintendent of Buxar Jail I H Ansari said on Sunday.

Ansari said the hanging rope weighed 3.75 kg and is 60 feet long and its price was Rs 1,820 at the rate of Rs 180 per kg besides the additional sales tax and VAT.

The Buxar jail has expertise in manufacturing the wax-coated Manila rope which can easily withstand the tension caused by the fall of a man upto 80 kg of bodyweight sent to gallows.

Stating that a lot of care goes into manufacturing of Manila rope to ensure that hanging is a "smooth affair", Ansari said the jail also produces several kinds of ropes used with handcuffs and also for pitching tents.

The jail, probably the only one in the country manufacturing such ropes, supplies all kinds of ropes to different jails, he said, adding that the demand for its famed Manila rope has diminished as there are fewer executions now.

The last time a Manila rope was sent from Buxar jail was in year 2004 for the hanging of Dhananjay Chatterjee at Alipore jail, Kolkata, in the sensational rape-cum-murder case of a school girl.