JOIN US Abu Salem’s counsel is planning to move the Portuguese authorities for the gangster's repatriation following an alleged attack inside Taloja Jail on Thursday night. In a bid to save its face, the Maharashtra government suspended the jailer and three constables.
In an unprovoked attack, an under trial Devendra Jagtap, fired one round from a country-made gun at Salem nicking the latter’s finger. Jagtap, reportedly from a defunct Bharat Nepali gang, is facing trial for the murder of advocate Shahid Azmi who had represented 26/11 accused Faheem Ansari.
While the security lapse has shaken prison officials, what has flummoxed the police is the provocation of the recent attack as the earlier tiff between a small-time smuggler Mustafa Majnu alias Mustafa Dossa was an outcome of a turf war inside Arthur Road Jail where the two were lodged at the time.
On Friday, Salem’s advocate Saba Qureshi told the media that the legal team has decided to appeal to Portuguese authorities for the gangster’s repatriation.
She said that one of the conditions for the extradition was that Salem would be provided protection and “ this condition has been violated. So we plan to ask Portuguese authorities to intervene and get him repatriated.”
Salem, before becoming a big-time extortionist in Bollywood, was a small-time messenger and courier boy in the early nineties.
He had been named as one of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts. He was extradited in 2005 from Portugal.
Meanwhile, state Home Minister R R Patil and Additional Director-General (Prisons) Meeran Borwankar will hold an inquiry and officials found guilty may face dismissal.
A distraught Patil said: “Responsibility for the incident will be fixed and stringent action, including dismissal from service, will be taken against those found guilty.”