|
Terrorism : Abu Salem, Monica extradited to India |
 |
The CBI is continuing with its interrogation of gangster Abu Salem who is accused in several cases including the Bombay serial bomb blasts of 1993. Salem was remanded to CBI custody till Nov. 23 by the designated court in Mumbai after he was brought to India on Nov.11 on extradition from Portugal.
Abu Salem is said to be involved in the 1993 Mumbai blasts in which 257 people were killed and about 1400 injured. His name has also been linked with the cricket match-fixing scandal in which some of India’s top cricket players including former Captain. Mohd. Azharuddin were allegedly involved. Abu Salem had a hand allegedly in the murder of T series owner, Gulshan Kumar. He is also involved in several other rackets.
Abu Salem and his Mistress Monica Bedi were arrested in Lisbon, Portugal, on Sept. 18, 2002 for traveling with fake passports. The CBI had been trying for their extradition to India to stand trial in the numerous cases pending against them, but succeeded only last week.
The Portuguese Government has put several conditions before the extradition went through. The conditions stipulates that death sentence will not be imposed on Abu Salem. There is also a condition that he would not serve a jail term exceeding 25 years.
Explosive disclosures are expected to come out of Abu Salem’s interrogation. The investigating agencies hope that the gangster may throw light on the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the Mumbai serial bomb blasts and other criminal activities. Bollywood personalities, policemen, politicians and even cricketers also fear being exposed by Abu Salem.
Observers say that the focus of the probe and Abu Salem’s interrogation will be as much on the cases against him as on collecting information on the role of Pakistan’s ISI in the Dawood Ibrahim operations which have become a global threat due to his links with terrorist organisations, Al Qaeda and Taliban.
Salem was a close aide of Dawood for almost a decade. As Dawood is a listed global terrorist on the UN Security Council sanctions List and with the US Treasury Department, CBI officials feel Salem’s disclosures on Dawood’s links with terrorist outfits will help mobilize cooperation from the UN and Interpol. Simply put, this means it would help New Delhi put pressure on Islamabad to hand over Dawood.
Indian intelligence agencies already have sufficient information on Dawood’s links with the Al Qaeda, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was declared a global terrorist based on inputs the Home Minister shared with the UN and the U S.
The emphasis will now be on getting stronger evidence to prove Dawood has been getting assistance from the ISI and other Pakistani agencies. It is believed Salem met Dawood several times in Karachi following the Mumbai blasts. “Salem knows everything about Dawood’s operations, particularly in Pakistan. The information can be useful to build a case against Pakistan at the international fora,” an official said.
|
