Abu Salem's Portuguese connection

Convicted for his involvement in the 1993 blasts and for the murder of builder Pradeep Jain, gangster Abu Salem is now the talk of the town as he was shot in Taloja Jail yesterday (June 27). Although incarcerated in Mumbai, the gangster has a sordid connection with Portugal that is still relatively unknown to many.

Originally from Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh, Salem and his then girlfriend, Monica Bedi, were arrested in Lisbon in 2002 by Interpol, which tracked him through the GPS satellite tracking device on his phone. Salem had managed to acquire a fake passport from the Lucknow passport office in 1993, which he purportedly used to flee the country and go to Portugal.

A few know that back in September 2002, there was a lot of back and forth between India and Portugal over Salem's deportation. He was additionally charged with the murders of other noted personalities, and attempting the murders of two Bollywood personalities as well.

The Lisbon Court had remanded him in a 90-day judicial custody and at the time, there was much speculation over whether the underworld don would be extradited, given the lack of a formal extradition treaty between India and Portugal.

Eventually, a CBI team left for Lisbon to bring Salem and Bedi to India, and Salem was extradited in November 2005.

Since then, India and Portugal have engaged in much dialogue over Salem's case. Only in 2012 did Portugal confirm that it does not want to take Salem back. In March this year, India reaffirmed that it would treat the case in complete compliance with the Portugal judiciary system.

@ishagulati94