Abu Salem Attacked Inside Jail: 1 Jail Officer, 3 Policemen Suspended

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Gangster Abu Salem, who was shot at by another inmate yesterday, is back at Mumbai's Taloja Jail after being kept overnight in hospital. His attacker, a man called Devendra Jagtap, shot him in the hand with a country-made revolver.

One jail officer and three policemen, who have been found guilty in a preliminary enquiry, have been suspended from duty. The Maharashtra government has ordered a high-level probe into the attack.

Salem's lawyer has said he will appeal in court that his client is not safe in Mumbai and should be repatriated to Portugal from where he was extradited in 2005.

Salem's injury is minor, despite his attacker being a known sharpshooter, and police sources say they do not rule out the possibility that the attack could have been staged.

The gangster was arrested in Lisbon in 2002 along with his girlfriend, actor Monica Bedi, for travelling with fake passports. He was extradited from Portugal three years later for his alleged role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, which left 257 dead and 713 injured.

Yesterday, Jagdap reportedly fired two rounds at Salem at around 8:30 pm. He is in jail in connection with the murder of an advocate named Shahid Azmi.

Police are investigating how he sneaked a gun into the jail premises. He has allegedly told the cops that it was delivered to him by an associate who came to visit him at the prison a few days ago. He has also allegedly claimed that he shot at Salem after an altercation between the two over an extortion business they allegedly run from inside the jail.

This is the second attack on the gangster inside a jail after he was deported in 2005.

While getting Salem extradited, India had given an executive assurance to Portugal that it would not press any charge which would entail death penalty and would not keep him behind bars for more than 25 years.

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Sources say it was not possible for Jagtap to open fire at Salem over a minor altercation.

Sensing something fishy, sources asked why did Jagtap miss Salem and hit him only on his hand when the incident took place in an open area. They add Salem could have plotted the attack on himself so as to push for his case for repatriation to Portugal from where he was extradited to India in 2005.

His lawyer has already said that Salem would move court seeking repatriation following the latest attack.

Meanwhile, a jail officer and three cops have been suspended for lapses that led to the attack on Salem.

This is the second attack on Salem inside a jail after he was deported from Portugal. He had faced attack at the Arthur Road jail as well in 2010.

Salem was attacked in July 2010 inside the maximum security Arthur Road Central Jail in Mumbai by a rival gangster Mustafa Dossa with a spoon sharpened into a knife-like weapon.