Gangster Abu Salem, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, was on Thursday attacked inside Taloja Central Jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, the police said.
The Bombay High Court stated that gangster Abu Salem has not yet completed 25 years in jail in India, as mandated by his extradition from Portugal. Salem sought release, claiming his term was complete with remission, but the court found the 25-year period incomplete based on his arrest date.
This is underworld gangster Abu Salem now.
Underworld don Abu Salem on Tuesday opposed framing of extortion charges in a Delhi court on the ground that the Indian government did not mention about his impending prosecution under harsher penal provision while seeking his extradition from Portugal.
The officers had allegedly come to the Arthur Road Jail for a surprise check on July 4 when they indirectly told Salem that they were travelling long distances and nobody was taking care of them, Ansari said.
There were some media persons present at the New Delhi Railway Station, but they did not get a chance to talk to Salem.
The dreaded gangster turns out to be a thin, frightened man in a striped T-shirt.
This is the third case in which Salem has confessed his role.
The matter was pending and would be heard on August 8. Besides, Salem was also required in Ajit Dewani and Pradeep Jain murder cases which are pending in other courts.
Delhi Police will seek custody of extradited gangster Abu Salem in connection with three extortion cases registered against him in the capital, Police Commissioner K K Paul said in New Delhi.
He alleged that the ATS officials used a leather belt to torture him.
Salem's counsel Ashok Sarogi told PTI on Thursday that he had formed Rashtriya Samajwadi Party through which his client could contest the UP state elections in 2007.
In a reprieve to extradited gangster Abu Salem, a court here has dismissed the plea of Delhi police seeking to invoke harsher penal provision against him and granted him bail in an extortion case lodged in 1998.
Salem's family members will be managing the campaign for the don, who is currently in high-security Arthur Jail in Mumbai.
India on Monday assured Portugal that it would remain compliant with the expectations of the Portuguese system and judiciary on the issue of gangster Abu Salem.
Salem has been taken to the high security Arthur road jail following his arrival from Delhi.
Salem has challenged a chargesheet filed against him.
The rejection will be a blow to Salem's dreams of entering the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
The Delhi High Court on Friday allowed police to drop stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act charges from an extortion case against gangster Abu Salem, the order for whose extradition to India has been quashed by the Portuguese supreme court allegedly owing to non-observance of extradition terms in New Delhi.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking its permission to drop certain charges against gangster Abu Salem under TADA and Explosive Substances Act in view of its commitment to Portuguese government at the time of his extradition that he shall not be awarded death penalty or detained in custody for more than 25 years if found guilty.
The CBI, India's nodal agency for extradition cases, has moved Portugal's Constitutional Court against the Supreme Court's recent ruling confirming the decision to terminate the extradition of Salem in 2005 to face trial in various cases.
Extradited gangster Abu Salem, who was on Saturday taken to J J Hospital for a routine check up, has denied that there was any threat to his life. The state government and the Central Bureau of Investigation have stated that Salem's life was in danger and thus he should not be brought out of the Arthur Road jail premises. He told the media outside the hospital that there is no threat to his life and restraining him inside the jail was just the CBI's manner to delay his trial.
The Bombay high court on Thursday issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation, seeking reply to a petition filed by extradited gangster Abu Salem, which expresses fear that he would be killed or implicated in a false case by the Indian authorities.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its order on gangster Abu Salem plea for quashing trials against him in various cases after the Portugal court terminated his extradition to India for "violation" of deportation rules by authorities.
The don maybe behind bars in real life, but his life is being put to reel.
Gangster Abu Salem is set to contest next year's elections to the Uttar Pradesh assembly from Mubarakpur constituency as an independent and has applied for the inclusion of his name in the state voters' list, his lawyer said on Friday.
'Even the mafia has certain ethics and follow certain rules, but Abu Salem was so ruthless, so inhuman, there was no ethics at all. He had no basic humanity in him.' India's foremost crime writer S Hussain Zaidi on the dreaded gangster.
Salem, who was brought to the capital from Bhopal amid tight security arrangements, was produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja who framed criminal charges against the extradited gangster.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday deferred to December 20 the hearing on a plea by the city police seeking withdrawal of charges under stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against alleged gangster Abu Salem as it violated provisions of the extradition agreement with Portugal.
A TADA court on Tuesday directed the Thane police commissioner to conduct an inquiry after a media report claimed gangster Abu Salem, an accused in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, had married on a train while being escorted by police to Lucknow for a court hearing.
Life behind bars has not dimmed underworld don Abu Salem's attraction towards actress and former lover Monia Bedi as once again he publicly said that she was his wife, a claim which has been refuted by her on several occasions.
It was alleged that Salem had demanded Rs 5 crore as protection money from businessman Ashok Gupta, a resident of Greater Kailash in south Delhi, in 2002.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had initially demanded the death penalty
Abu Salem's lawyer Ashok Sarogi on Tuesday alleged that a man who identified himself as gangster Ravi Pujari has threatened him on phone for representing the underworld don.
The Supreme Court held that the verdict of Portugal court is "not binding" on courts here and Salem's extradition to India is still "valid in the eyes of law".
Observing that the order of Portugal court terminating the extradition of Abu Salem to India has to be respected, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act proceedings in two cases against the alleged gangster.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said that attack on 1993 serial blasts accused Abu Salem in a Navi Mumbai jail last month could have a negative bearing on the extradition of wanted criminals from at least 50 countries.
Life behind bars has not dimmed underworld don Abu Salem's attraction towards actress and former lover Monia Bedi as he once again publicly said on Wednesday that she was his wife, a claim which has been refuted by her on several occasions. "Monica Bedi is my wife," said the gangster, who has been in jail for three years, while coming out of a Delhi court.
