Online Desk -The prison authorities here have asked the family of death-row war crimes convict Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali to meet him at Kashimpur Jail this (Saturday) afternoon as his execution looms following his decision not to seek clemency. Mir Quashem’s family sources said the Department of Prisons sent them a letter around 9am asking them to meet him at the jail at 3:30pm. The letter mentioned that 22-23 visitors can meet him at the jail. His family members are now on the way to the jail. Besides, Additional Inspector General of Prisons Iqbal Hassan entered the Kashimpur jail around 2:00pm, said senior jail super Prashanta Kumar Banik. Earlier, the jail authorities started the process of hanging Mir Quasem Ali As per the Supreme Court verdict following his decision not to seek presidential mercy. Security in and around Kashimpur Central Jail has been beefed up over the imminent execution. Law enforcers were deployed in front of the jail gate with an increased number of regular jail guards. Besides, leave of all jail officials and employees has been cancelled. A team of hangmen, led by Shahjahan, is also ready. Doctors on Friday examined Mir Quasem’s health at the Condemned Cell-40. However, the jail authorities could not say for sure when the verdict will be executed. Quasem informed his decision not to seek presidential clemency to the prison authorities around 3:30pm on Friday, said Kasimpur Jail super Prashanta Kumar Banik. The copy of the Supreme Court verdict rejecting the review plea of Mir Quasem reached the jail from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj around 12:45am on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the top court upheld the death penalty for Quasem for the crimes he committed against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. The International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Mir Quasem, the Al-Badr chief in the port city of Chittagong in 1971, to death on November 02, 2014. On November 30, 2014, he filed an appeal with the SC challenging the death penalty. -Gazipur, Sept 3 (UNB)
