From correspondents in Washington, United States, 10:00 AM IST

John Allen Muhammad, who masterminded the 2002 Washington sniper killings, was put to death by lethal injection late Tuesday, a Virginia state prison spokesman announced.

Muhammad and his 17-year-old accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, armed themselves with a sniper rifle and went about shooting people at random in Washington and the Virginia and Maryland suburbs. They shot at least 16 people - killing 10 - in October 2002.

Muhammad's sentence of capital punishment was carried out at Greensville Correctional Centre in Jarratt, Virginia.

Malvo is serving a sentence of life without parole, after a jury refused to agree to his death.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)