Plea filed by gangster asking for a transfer from Taloja jail has not received response from govt
Irked over the state government's failure to respond to the plea of extradited gangster Abu Salem's transfer to any jail in Uttar Pradesh as he feels unsafe in Maharashtra, a city court has asked the Principal Secretary (Home) to appear in person on December 19. Salem's plea has been pending with the department since August this year. Salem who is lodged in Taloja jail has alleged that he feels unsafe in Maharashtra and has serious life threats. He has backed his petition on the past incidents when he was attacked in the jail by rival gangs.
Sources claim that the department has now appointed a senior jail official to appear before the court. The department sources also claim that the jail authorities have refused the demand saying they have taken sufficient measures inside the jail to safeguard Salem. "The contentions made by the applicant are a matter of apprehension and fear psychosis which is giving rise to a phobia of threat and other trepidation in the mind of the applicant. We have provided him with adequate security. He is sufficiently protected in Taloja prison," said a senior home department official.
The official further claimed that Salem is placed in the high security cell at Taloja which is under CCTV surveillance and is guarded 24X7. He was transferred to Taloja prison from Arthur road jail after he was attacked by his fellow inmate, a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, inside the high security jail in July 2010. In June 2013, Salem, was shot by another inmate and was admitted in the hospital overnight. His attacker, a man named Devendra Jagtap, had shot him in the hand with a country-made revolver. He was jailed in connection with the murder of an advocate named Shahid Azmi.
Abu Salem is a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case and has been lodged here since his extradition from Portugal in 2005. He is facing trial in nine cases, including two murders. While getting Salem extradited, India had given an executive assurance to Portugal that it would not press any charges including death penalty and would not keep him behind bars for more than 25 years.
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