All four convicts in the Nirbhaya case have been shifted toTihar, triggering speculation that they would be hanged soon. Sources told Zee Media that one of the accused Pawan Kumar Gupta, who was lodged in Mandolijail, was shifted to jail number 2 of Tihar. The other three convicts in the case - Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay - are already in Tihar.

It is to be noted that the convicts are expected to be hanged after the rejection of Vinay's mercy plea by President Ram Nath Kovind.As per rules, the convicts on death row are to be hanged 14 days after the rejection of mercy plea by President and in the meantime, the police gets deathwarrant for the convict. Except Vinay, no other convict in Nirbhaya case has filed mercy petition and it is highly unlikely that their mercy petitions wouldnow be accepted by the court because they were given to file the plea but they decided against it. It is learnt that the death warrant of all four accused willbe issued on the same day.

Notably, a convict is hanged 14 days after the rejection ofmercy petition but it can be brought forward if the Centre and state governmentthinks that the wait for 14 days could create law and order issues.

Meanwhile, one of the convicts Akshay Thakur filed hisreview petition in Supreme Court on Monday (December 8) but sources said thatit is highly unlikely that the top court would accept his plea as the SC hasalready rejected a similar plea filed by Vinay Kumar, Mukesh Singh and PawanGupta.

A total of six people were convicted of raping and murderingNirbhaya, 23, on December 16, 2012. Nirbhaya later died of her injuries. Thebrutal crime led to massive protests across the country forcing the Centre to comeup with new laws to deal with such heinous crimes. The six involved in thisincident were arrested and convicted.