January 12, 2002	Saturday	Shawwal 27, 1422

NEW DELHI, Jan 11: Five men who carried out an attack on India’s parliament last month were buried on Friday after a deadline set by India for Pakistan to claim their bodies expired.

India had given Pakistan until Thursday to collect the bodies as, according to it, the five were Pakistan nationals and belonged to the Jaish-i-Mohammad and Lasher-i-Taiba.

Delhi police handed over the bodies to the Waqf Board, a body which performs the last rites for unclaimed Muslim bodies.

“We did the burial according to Islamic rituals. The bodies were bathed and then lowered into the earth at the old Delhi Gate Qabarastan (graveyard),” Waqf Board chairman Harun Yusuf said.

“There were a handful of policemen and members of the Waqf Board during the last rites. We have been burying unclaimed bodies for 40 years. It is a sad job ... I still wonder how a person can be buried without family or friends.” —AFP