Red Fort attack: Who is Mohammed Arif, terrorist whose mercy plea President Murmu rejected?

In November 2022, the Supreme Court had dismissed his review petition, upholding his death sentence. President Droupadi Murmu has rejected the mercy plea of Mohammed Arif alias Ashfaq, the Pakistani terrorist who was convicted for conspiring to attack Delhi’s Red Fort 24 years ago. In November 2022, the Supreme Court had dismissed his review petition, upholding his death sentence. The mercy petition from Arif, received on May 15, was turned down on May 27, the officials said, quoting the President’s secretariat order of May 29, reported PTI. In 2022, the Supreme Court had noted that the Red Fort attack was a threat against India’s unity, integrity, and sovereignty. It added that there were no mitigating circumstances in the convict’s favour. The attack took place on December 22, 2000. Three army personnel of the 7 Rajputana Rifles unit stationed inside the Red Fort, were killed in the attack. Mohammed Arif was arrested four days after the attack. He is a Pakistani national and a member of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He was first found guilty of a conspiracy to attack the army personnel in October 2005. He was then sentenced to death. Arif and three other LeT terrorists entered India in 1999. He hatched the plan to attack Red Fort in a house in Srinagar. The three terrorists — Abu Shaad, Abu Bilal and Abu Haider — who had also entered the monument, were killed in separate encounters. The Delhi high court upheld his death sentence in September 2007. In 2011, the Supreme Court confirmed his death sentence. After his review petition was dismissed in August 2012, he filed a curative petition in January 2014. A constitution bench of the apex court had in its September 2014 judgement concluded that in all cases in which death sentence was awarded by the high court, such matters be listed before a bench of three judges. Before the September 2014 verdict, the review and curative petitions of death row convicts were not heard in open courts but were decided in chamber proceedings by circulation. In January 2016, a constitution bench had directed that Arif shall be entitled to seek re-opening of the dismissal of the review petitions for an open court hearing within one month.