Warrant against Abu Salem
by Narendra/Sushil Pareek

    Hyderabad/Mumbai: A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court in Hyderabad today issued a production warrant against underworld don Abu Salem and extended the judicial custody of Salem girlfriend Monica Bedi till January 25 in connection with a passport forgery case. Meanwhile, a designated TADA court in Mumbai today extended the judicial custody of Virendra Kumar Jhamb in connection with Pradeep Jain murder case. Virendra, the builder of Forward Construction, acted as agent for Salem in the transfer of extortion money from the Jain family to the gangster, after Jain was murdered allegedly by Salem's henchmen. Another accused, Mohammad Mehdi Hasan alias sunny, former driver of Salem is under judicial custody, who alleged to have taken Jain's murderers to the builder's office. Hasan is in police custody till January 17. Salem's aides, Naeem Khan and Riaz Siddiqui are the other two key conspirators who played important role in the 1995 murder of city-based builder Pradip Jain, which was allegedly instigated by Abu Salem. Naeem Khan is in judicial custody till January 17 while the judicial custody of Siddiqui extended till January 31.

   While the TADA court has remanded Salem in the judicial custody till January 31 in the same case, in order to facilitate the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the 1993 serial bomb blast case. Pradeep Jain, a builder from suburban Andheri, was shot dead by the assailants at his office in March 1995. The murder was suspected to be culmination of a tiff between Jain and Salem over development of a prime piece of land in Andheri. Jain owned the piece of land, while Salem wanted him to sell it to another builder at a nominal price, but when Jain refused, he was killed. Salem was extradited from Portugal along with his girl friend Monica Bedi on November 11, 2005. Salem had been held in Portugal since he was arrested with his companion in 2002 for using fake documents and resisting arrest.

    A Portuguese court sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in prison in November 2003. Bedi was sentenced to two years in prison for using false documents. The police and revenue officials at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh had cleared the passports applications of Abu Salem and Monica Bedi under fictitious names of Ramil Kamal Malik and Sana Malik Kamal in 2001. Bedi has been booked under Sections 420, 471 of IPC and under the Passport Act 1967, which states that it is an offense to give false information in the passport application. Four government employees, including an assistant sub-inspector and a revenue employee in Kurnool have been suspended for connivance in this case.

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