Abu Salem admits role in Mumbai blasts

[Ashok]

Underworld don Abu Salem has "admitted his role" in carrying out the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, a senior Central Bureau of Investigation official told reporters in Mumbai on Sunday.

"Salem has accepted that his role was that of supplier of arms and ammunition", the official said.

Salem was 'fairly cooperative,' Deputy Inspector General (Special Task Force) CBI, O P Chatwal said, but refused to divulge anything further. "Our focus of questioning is on 1993 blasts," he said.

A total of 257 people were killed and 713 injured on March 12, 1993 in serial blasts at 13 places in the city, including Bombay Stock Exchange, Air-India building and hotels 'Sea Rock' and `Juhu Centaur', destroying property worth Rs 27 crore.

Chatwal also refused to say whether Salem had revealed his links with any politician, Bollywood personalities or anybody else.

A media report has claimed that Salem had named some prominent personalities during the interrogation, but Chatwal said he would not comment on that.

On whereabouts of Dawood Ibrahim, Chatwal said no question was put to Salem in that regard. "Anyway everybody knows where Dawood is, where is the need to ask Salem?" Chatwal added.

Apart from the eight cases, for which the Indian government has obtained the Portugal government's consent for extraditing the gangster, there is another passport forgery matter for which Salem's extradition was sought, Chatwal said.

Salem had obtained the forged passport in the name of Danish Beg, while his girlfriend Monica Bedi had used the name Fujia Usman for her fake passport, Chatwal informed.

The case is registered in Bhopal by Madhya Pradesh Police against both Salem and Bedi and the evidence regarding it was conveyed to Portuguese authorities later. But the final decision on it (by Portugal) is yet to come, he stated.