The Hindu : National : Special court alters Salem's status

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Saturday, Dec 10, 2005

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National

Special court alters Salem's status

Staff Reporter

From `absconding' to `accused facing trial'; charges read out

MUMBAI: In the Mumbai blasts case, the special TADA court on Friday changed the status of the extradited gangster and key accused Abu Salem from `absconding' to `accused facing trial.' All the other accused, including film actor Sanjay Dutt, were present in the court as part of their routine appearance.

Salem's status in the CBI charge sheet was `absconding.' The designated TADA Judge, P.D. Kode, altered the status as Salem is now before the court after being extradited from Portugal. The court staff read out the charges to Salem in Hindi in the presence of all the other accused. The judge also noted that the charges, which all the other accused are facing, would remain the same as of now.

Salem was brought to the court amid tight security. Media persons and bystanders crowded the area near the special court on Arthur Road. Salem, one of the prime accused in the blasts case, is charged with supplying arms, ammunition and explosives to four accused — Babu Musa Chauhan, Samir Hingora, Hanif Kadawala, and actor Sanjay Dutt. He has been booked under Sec. 120-b (conspiracy) of IPC and Sec. 3 of TADA.

Special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said they would be filing a supplementary charge sheet soon and Salem would be tried separately.

On March 12, 1993, there were 13 serial explosions in the city, which killed more than 250 people. Over 100 accused were booked under Sec. 120-b of IPC apart from individual charges. The trial has been concluded and the judgment is awaited. The court directed all the accused to be produced on December 20, 2005.

Permission to Salem

The other special judge P.V. Bavkar allowed Salem to meet his brother, Abu Lais, once for 15 minutes. Currently, Salem is in the custody of Anti-Terrorist Squad till December 17 in the Pradeep Jain murder case.

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