One of India's most wanted men, accused of involvement in a series of bombings in Mumbai more than 12 years ago that killed 260 people, was ordered by a judge on Wednesday to a high-security jail for his own safety.
Police accuse Abu Salem of being a key associate of criminal syndicate leader Dawood Ibrahim, who they say planned and funded the March 1993 bombings in India's financial centre, formerly known as Bombay.
A lawyer for Salem, extradited from Portugal two weeks ago, had said the Muslim suspect was worried that Hindu gangsters in Mumbai might try to kill him.
Judge P.D. Kode ordered Salem be kept in judicial custody in a city jail for the next two weeks and instructed prison authorities to ensure he was kept apart from other inmates. "I fear that the crime branch of (Mumbai) police may torture me if I am put in their custody," Salem had told the judge, when asked if he had anything to say.
Salem was flown from Lisbon in a special aircraft earlier this month along with one-time Bollywood actress Monica Bedi. He had been held there since being arrested with Bedi in 2002 for using fake documents and resisting arrest.
India has the death penalty, normally carried out by hanging, but authorities said they promised Portugal it would not be imposed if Salem was convicted.
Comments
Comments are closed.