GANGSTER ABU SALEM RELOCATED TO NASHIK CENTRAL JAIL FROM TALOJA JAIL
Gangster Abu Salem, who has been serving a life term in connection with the 1993 serial blasts case, was relocated on Thursday from the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai to the central jail in Nashik under heavy police protection, according to an official. According to him, Salem was taken out of the Taloja prison at about 11:30 AM.
Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005, found guilty, and given a life sentence in 2017 for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial explosions.
He was being held at Taloja Prison, but the jail administration had informed the special court that he needed to be moved to Nashik Central Prison because the high-security cell there was in disorder and needed immediate repair.
Salem had petitioned the Bombay High Court to overturn a special court ruling that had last month denied his motion to transfer from Taloja prison to Nashik Central Prison, citing a threat to his life.
Salem alleged that the decision to move him out of the Taloja facility, where he is serving a life sentence in the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings case, was a "conspiracy" to murder him because he is expected to be released in a few months.
Notably, a division bench consisting of Justices A S Gadkari and Neela Gokhale declined to hear Salem's appeal on Wednesday without explaining. A different division bench will hear the petition.
According to a Navi Mumbai police officer, Salem was taken by the police from the Taloja prison on Thursday and is now being driven to Nashik in a vehicle under strict security measures.