11 August,2015 01:32 PM IST | | Sailee Dhayalkar
Gangster Abu Salem on Monday filed his written statement at the Special TADA court, claiming he is innocent and not related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts case
Gangster Abu Salem on Monday filed his written statement at the Special TADA court, claiming he is innocent and not related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
Abu Salem claims he was in Portugal at the time of the 1993 blasts. File pic
The filing of the statement came after Special TADA court Judge G A Sanap recorded the statements of all the seven accused in the case, against whom a separate trial is being conducted. Salem stands accused of transporting arms and ammunition and supplying weapons to actor Sanjay Dutt.
'93 Mumbai blasts: Statements of Abu Salem, other accused recorded
The gangster, whose statement was filed under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), said that he is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the case. According to an advocate representing Salem,"The application states that he (Salem) has been falsely implicated in the case and that he was in Portugal at the time of blasts.
He has no involvement in this case." Salem's lawyers are also going to examine defence witnesses and the list of the same has also been submitted to the court. The advocate added, "One of the witnesses is a DIG who was involved in the extradition process of Salem, and who has all the records of when Salem was brought to India."
Last week, after recording the statements of all the seven accused facing trial in the case, wherein they were asked about 14,000 questions over a period of a month, Salem told the court that he was falsely implicated in the case, and all the witnesses who deposed against him are under the pressure of investigating agency CBI.
Also Read: Abu Salem can't marry, says CBI
The seven accused who are facing the separate trial are Salem, Riyaz Siddiqui, Karimullah Khan, Feroze Abdul Rashid, Tahir Merchant, Mustafa Dossa and Abdul Qayyum. The others have also denied their involvement in the blasts. Dossa who had filed his written statement last week said that he had surrendered and was framed by CBI, while Firoz said his is a case of mistaken identity and he is not Firoz, but Hamza.
