The hanging puts an end to the daily expenditure of Rs 3.5 lakh incurred on Kasab. In all, Rs 48 crore had been spent on guarding the high-profile prisoner, of which Rs 15 crore was spent by Maharastra.
Kasab was being guarded by members of the Maharashtra police and also several members of the Indo Tibetan Border Police. The ITBP, which has been guarding him since day one, has claimed Rs 31 crore from the Maharashtra government as the expenditure incurred by it in guarding the Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist.
Kasab was guarded by a 250-member commando team from the ITBP.
According to the ITBP, it had spent Rs 70 lakh per month from its own budgetary allocation. If the Maharashtra government fails to reimburse this expense, then the request may go to the Union home ministry which, after sending out a reminder, could even recommend to the central government to reduce the grant to the state in order to recover the amount.
It is not that Maharatra is flush with funds towards its prisons upkeep and maintenance. The budgetary allocation for the state's prisons wing was a paltry Rs 135 crore this year. There has been no separate allocation for guarding prisoners such as Kasab.
Despite the lack of funds, the state government could not afford to be lax, given reports that attempts would be made to rescue Kasab through hijacking a plane, or even an execution in jail. After all, after years of complaining about Pakistani involvement in terrorism in India, Kasab was the first and only link to that country, and it was important to ensure his safety.
