Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the man who became the face of the terror squad who carried out the Mumbai attack in 2008, wearing his black t shirt and toting an AK47 has been executed by hanging at 7:30 local time. Just days before the fourth anniversary of a rampaging attack that saw 166 people killed.The execution at Yerawada Prison in Pune, near Mumbai, came just hours after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected a mercy plea by Kasab, who had said he belonged to the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Many foreigners, some of India's wealthy business elite, and poor train commuters were killed by 10 Pakistani gunmen in a three-day rampage through some of Mumbai's best-known landmarks, including two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre.

This is the first time a capital sentence had been carried out in India since 2004. However this attack traumatised India and raised fears of copycat attacks on foreign cities. India accuses Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) of organising the attacks and says Islamabad is failing to act against those behind the raids. Pakistan denies involvement and says it is prosecuting seven suspected militants for their role.