Ten rupees for hanging Qasab

Sources say Qasab's hangman will be paid Rs 10. Kripashankar Singh suggests he be paid Rs 75,000

The State spent Rs 36 crore on security for Aamir Ajmal Qasab. Yet, the hangman who will put the noose around the neck of India's most hated man will get a measly Rs 10 to Rs 25 for the job.

However, a senior official from the home department at Mantralaya clarified, on condition of anonymity, that

	Six years on, they wait
	On June 21, 2004, Arthur Road prisoners Vikky Singh (22) and Rajesh Dhudwani (30) attacked jailer Shiv Shankar Patil (37). "I had heard that blast accused Shaikh Mohammed Ehtesham Shaikh had assured them Rs 10,000 and bail if they joined Chotta Shakeel. So I separated them, and they attacked," says Patil, who filed a complaint under Section 332 of the IPC with the N M Joshi Marg police. Then state home minister (prison) Kripashankar Singh announced a Rs 1 lakh reward for Patil and Rs 51,000 for constable Bhausaheb Patil. They are still waiting. When asked, Kripashankar said, "If they are not paid even after follow up, I promise to use the chief minister's relief fund."

the post of "hangman" doesn't exist. The Maharashtra prison manual of 1970 directs that anyone can be trained as a hangman.

"This amount was fixed during the British regime, and has not changed even after Independence. But the hanging allowance is in addition to the monthly salary paid to him," said the officer, who said the hangman should be paid at least Rs 10,000.

Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president Kripashankar Singh also feels that whoever does the job of hanging Qasab should be given a reward amount of no less than Rs 75,000. In 2004, Singh himself had announced rewards of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 to two Arthur Road jail staffers for their bravery. They are still awaiting their reward, though.

Medha Gadgil, principal secretary (prison), revealed that the prison department has spent only around Rs 5.21 crore on the bulletproof makeshift high security cell for Qasab inside Arthur Road jail.

"I don't know how people have arrived at the figure of 36 crore rupees," said Gadgil.

Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian was paid a mere Rs 1,500 per month when she was chief public prosecutor. Said Salian, "It's high time the State reconsiders the measly pay scale set in the pre-independence era and makes necessary amendments. Hopefully, this will happen before the death sentence of Qasab is executed."