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Supreme Court asks Indian govt to not extend Abu Salem’s jail term; Rise and fall of notorious gangster terrorist

Salem was extradited from Portugal after a long and tiresome legal battle in 2005. He has been convicted in the 1993 Mumbai train blast and the murder of a businessman in the city. Salem approached the top court seeking the enforcement of the said undertaking after the courts gave him life imprisonment in both cases. The Supreme Court said that the international obligations for extradition must be honoured.

Anurakti Sharma

Updated Jul 11, 2022, 18:08 IST

Gangster and terrorist, Abu Salem. (file)

Photo : BCCL

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Portugal outlaws death penalty since the late 19th century.
Salem was extradited to India on a condition that he won't be handed over a death penalty and won't serve jail term for over 25 years.
Salem used to work for Dawood Ibrahim and he parted ways with him in 1998 after friction with Chhota Shakeel.

New Delhi: A Supreme Court bench on Monday asked the Central government to honour its commitment made to Portugal during the extradition of notorious gangster Abu Salem that it cannot extend the term of imprisonment.

The Indian government had given an undertaking to a Portugal court in the year 2002 to extradite Salem. In this undertaking, the Indian government had given a solemn assurance to Portugal to not sentence Salem to a term of more than 25 years.

“We conclude that on completion of 25 years, the Centre will be bound to advise the President and release him as per the commitment given by India and in keeping with the principle of comity of nations,” said the apex court.

Salem was extradited from Portugal after a long and tiresome legal battle in 2005. He has been convicted in the 1993 Mumbai train blast and the murder of a businessman in the city.

Salem approached the top court seeking the enforcement of the said undertaking after the courts gave him life imprisonment in both cases. The Supreme Court said that the international obligations for extradition must be honoured.

Rise and fall of Abu Salem

Abu Salem was born in the rural area of Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. After doing all kinds of odd jobs from driving a taxi, delivering bread, real estate broker, and working at a garment shop. His journey to crime began after he assaulted a colleague.

Abu Salem’s journey to organised crime began through his cousin, who used to work for the Dawood Ibrahim gang, the D-company. He started off as a petty driver in for the notorious gangster, delivering weapons, cash, and other contraband for the D boss.

In the mid-nineties, a lot of sharpshooters of the D-company were killed in police encounters or gang wars with the Chhota Rajan gang. Salem then invited the unemployed Muslim youth of his hometown, paid them a paltry sum and asked them to do his dirty job of shooting and return home the next day.

This threw the police of their game, it was difficult to trace these UP youth as they had no previous criminal records with the Mumbai police. Salem rose to the ranks within the D-company with this process

Bollywood Connection

He started managing Bollywood deals for the company for his smooth tongue and reportedly also used to oversee the mafia financing of Bollywood films.

He had also supplied weapons to Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt and is also said to be the mastermind behind the murder of Hindi music baron and former T-series chief, Gulshan Kumar. He was engaged in the threatening and extortion of Bollywood celebrities.

He had also shot the secretary of Nepalese Bollywood actress, Manisha Koirala. He also reportedly had a relationship with actress Monica Bedi, who was also arrested along with Salem in Portugal over a fake passport case. He also reportedly used to threaten and bribe filmmakers to get Bedi roles in Bollywood films.

Role in 1993 Mumbai train blasts

Abu Salem was the key conspirator in the 1993 serial blast case that rocked the country’s financial capital. He was mainly responsible for the supply of weapons and explosives. He was the one who brought arms and ammunition from Dighi in Maharashtra to Mumbai.

The firearms were brought to terrorise and torment possible witnesses in the case.

The court had said during the hearing that this was "vital towards the achievement of the conspiracy so that the weapons could be used to terrorise and torment innocent citizens of India".

Downfall

Salem fled India fearing the wrath of his boss Dawood Ibrahim, after he killed T-series' Kumar in 1997 without his permission. He had been defying Dawood for a while and was sure that it was not going to end well for him.

He parted ways with his boss in 1998 because of friction with Chhota Shakeel. It was believed that Salem left Dawood because of his “partiality” towards Shakeel.

Salem was finally arrested from Portugal along with Monica Bedi in a fake passport case by Interpol by tracking his satellite phone via GPS. In 2004, Portugal agreed to hand Salem over to India and over one and a half years later, he was extradited to India in 2005.

As per The Charter of Law of Abolition of the Death Penalty, Portugal has permanently suspended the death penalty and is codified in its legal system. Hence, while extraditing Salem to India, Portugal made India commit that Salem won’t be handed over a death penalty.

He is currently serving his term lodged in a Mumbai prison.

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