The Hindu : Will Mumbai police get him this time?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 22, 2002

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Will Mumbai police get him this time?

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI SEPT. 21. Though Abu Salem, one of the key accused in the 1993 Bombay serial blasts, is now in the custody of Lisbon police, authorities here are unwilling to exult since twice in the past he had managed to slip away.

In October last, he was nabbed by the Sharjah police but the Mumbai police could not provide his fingerprints to validate his identity. In 1997, he was picked up by the Dubai police but was not deported to India despite several requests. Now, with the CBI reportedly having done its homework, the expectations are that he may be delivered to the law here.

The Mumbai police's record in picking up the "most wanted man" is not good. Another don, Chotta Rajan, was all there to be picked up from Thailand but he managed to escape from the hospital where he had been admitted after being shot in an underworld shootout.

If reports of Salem being taken into custody for 90 days are correct, it is possible that Mumbai, especially Bollywood, where he had widened his extortion racket, might get some respite.

Cassette mogul, Gulshan Kumar, is said to have been his victim. He reportedly had plans to gun down Aamir Khan as well as some directors. If he is brought to India, it may help tie up the loose ends of the March 12 serial blasts case, which is now into its eighth year of trial.

PTI reports:

The Maharashtra Home Minister, Kripashankar Singh, said today that the Mumbai police were prepared to share evidence of crimes committed by Salem with any agency to enable his deportation from Portugal.

"Police had already passed on information about Abu Salem to the Interpol along with `red corner' notices, and we are now prepared to share supplementary evidence on the gangster if asked for," Mr. Singh said. So far, no information had been sought from the Mumbai police either by the Portuguese authorities or the CBI, he added.

The Joint Commissioner of Police, S.S. Vagal, said there was no immediate plan to send a State police team to Portugal to help in his deportation. The relevant documents and fingerprints have already been submitted to Interpol.

"We want Salem in our custody, so that we can interrogate him and establish the various nexuses he had. Mumbai police is making all efforts to get him in our custody," Mr. Vagal said.

Police were also examining the role of Monica Bedi, an associate of Salem, in various cases. "However, right now, we are concentrating on Salem. Bedi's exact involvement and her role in supplying information about the underworld to Salem is yet to be probed," he added.

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