The family of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who will be executed on Saturday morning for raping and killing a 14-year-old girl, Hetal Parekh, in Kolkata in 1990, has completely withdrawn into the confines of their home, refusing to even accept the official communication about the rejection of the mercy plea by President A P J Abdul Kalam.
The communication was to be handed over to Chatterjee's wife Purnima, but she refused to accept it, said Anil Kumar, superintendent of police, Bankura district, West Bengal.
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He also said that the communication was later pasted on the wall of her house in the Jamadoba village.
District officials had informed the convict's father, Bangsidhar, and other family members about the date and time of the hanging, he said.
Kumar also said that armed security guards were still posted outside the house of Chatterjee's parents in Kaludih village.
Local villagers were not being allowed to meet the family, he said.
These measures were taken following a threat by the family members to commit mass suicide if Chatterjee was executed.
"We have even offered hospitalisation as Dhananjoy's parents suffer from various ailments due to old age. But they have refused to take this assistance," he said.
Bangsidar, Chatterjee's mother Belarani and wife Purnima stopped taking food and water since they came to know the date of the execution on Tuesday, the police said.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government began final preparations for the hanging.
"All administrative measures are being taken. The arrangements will be as per the jail code," Home Secretary Amit Kiran Deb said after a meeting with Jail Secretary P K Agarwal and Inspector-General (Prisons) Joydev Chakraborty.
Security measures in and around the Alipur Central Jail, where Chatterjee is lodged, had been tightened, Deb said.