Friday, Jun 28, 2013

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday ordered a high-level probe into the attack on gangster Abu Salem in Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai where he was shot by another jail mate.

Already, an officer and three policemen have been suspended for dereliction of duty and Home Minister R R Patil has said that strict action would be taken against the guilty who would be removed from office. An inquiry report into the incident by Additional Director General (ADG) of Jails would be submitted on Saturday, he said.

The inquiry would also establish the reason behind the attack. What is surprising is that how a revolver, a country made one, has been smuggled into the high security jail. Salem, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case, received injury to his hand after he was shot by Devendra Jagtap, an accused in the advocate Shahid Azmi murder case, on Thursday night. Azmi was the lawyer for accused Fahim Ansari in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

Amidst reports of whether any of the gangs based abroad were behind the attack, ADG Meera Borwankar told reporters that it was “premature to say who is behind the attack.” The weapon could have been sneaked into the jail when Jagtap was returning after a hearing at the Sessions Court. “He has been changing his statement often,” she said.

According to reports, Salem and Jagtap had an altercation recently which led to the latter threatening him. Jagtap is said to be a member of the Santosh Shetty gang. Salem was rushed to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Hospital in Vashi, a few kilometers from Taloja jail. He was later admitted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai and has now been shifted back to jail.

This is the second attack on Salem after Mustafa Dossa, a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, slashed him with a sharpened spoon in 2010 in Arthur Road Jail. After that incident, he was shifted to the high security Taloja jail.

Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005 on condition that he would not be charged with any offence punishable with the death penalty. It was also agreed he would not be kept in jail for more than 25 years and that he could return to Portugal if his life was under threat. It has to been seen whether Portugal raises any objections to Salem’s stay in India after these attacks.

Meanwhile, his lawyers are likely to move Portuguese authorities for his repatriation.

By Pamela Raghunath, Correspondent

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