Mumbai court rejects gangster Abu Salem's plea against prison transfer

Abu Salem. File Pic

A Mumbai sessions court on Tuesday rejected gangster Abu Salem's application against his planned transfer from the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai to another jail in Maharashtra, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, Abu Salem, sentenced to life imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, claimed that the decision to shift him out of the Taloja prison was a "conspiracy to kill him" as he was likely to be released in a few months.

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The current prison was very safe for him and he could be attacked by members of rival gangs in other jails in the state, his plea said.

The jail administration told the court that his current cell was needed to be rebuilt, and there was no other safe cell for him at Taloja in Navi Mumbai.

Judge B D Shelke, after hearing both the sides, rejected Salem's plea, as per the PTI.

The court, however, asked the prison authority not to implement the order till July 3 to enable the gangster to approach the high court.

Extradited from Portugal in 2005, Abu Salem was convicted and awarded life sentence for his role in the 1993 serial blasts case in 2017.

Mumbai 1993 serial blasts case convict fatally attacked in Kolhapur jail

A convict in the Mumbai 1993 serial bomb blasts case was reportedly fatally attacked by five inmates in Kalamba Central Jail in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra on Sunday, the police said, reported PTI.

Prima facie, an argument with other inmates over taking a bath in the bathroom area of the jail resulted in the attack on 59-year-old Munna alias Mohammad Ali Khan alias Manoj Kumar Bhawarlal Gupta, according to the PTI.

He was serving life imprisonment in the serial blasts case.

"Amid the argument, some under-trial inmates removed the iron cover from drainage and smashed Khan's head, following which he collapsed on the ground. He was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead," the police official said, as per the PTI.

The attackers are identified as Prateek alias Pilya Suresh Patil, Deepak Netaji Khot, Sandeep Shankar Chavan, Rituraj Vinayak Inamdar, and Saurabh Vikas, according to the PTI.

The Kolhapur Police has registered a case of murder against the five men. They will be arrested in connection with the case soon, the official added.

The single-day serial bomb blasts in Mumbai on March 12, 1993, resulted in 257 fatalities and more than 1,000 injuries.

(with PTI inputs)