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Abu Salem in police custody in Mumbai

     Mumbai: A special TADA court on Friday sent the underworld don Abu Salem on a 12-day police custody while another Mumbai court sent Bollywood actress and Salem's girlfriend Monica Bedi on a four-day transit remand. Monica, who was facing charges of staying in Portugal on forged documents, will be produced in a Hyderabad court before November 14 for the next hearing. Once known as the righthand of Dawood Ibrahim, Salem was brought by the CBI to Mumbai this morning, along with his friend Monica Bedi, after a Lisbon court authorised their extradition. "Salem and Monica were brought by a special aircraft to Mumbai at about 8 a.m. today. They were handed over to the 20-member strong CBI team headed by a DIG in the intervening night of November 10 and 11," CBI Director U S Mishra told the mediapersons in Delhi, adding that the matter was kept secret due to security reasons. "Abu Salem has been extradited in three cases with CBI, three cases of Delhi police and three cases of Mumbai police. Monica Bedi is extradited in passport forgery cases", Mishra said.

     Salem had been held in Portugal since he was arrested with Bedi in 2002 for using fake documents and resisting arrest. India had to promise Portugal that it would not award Salem the death penalty for his alleged involvement in major offences like the Mumbai serial blasts, which had left 257 dead and property worth Rs 30 crore damaged. "This undertaking has been given by India that Monica Bedi and Abu Salem would not be visited by death penalty," CBI Director said. The extradition of Salem willl help in uncovering the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts and further strengthen the case against Dawood Ibrahim who has been declared as a Global Terrorist by the United States. Salem's interrogation, which is likely to follow soon, is also expected to blow the lid off certain prominent personalities against whom the Mumbai police and the CBI had failed to gather any evidence regarding their links with the underworld. Several other major cases which are pending against Salem include the murder of music baron Gulshan Kumar in 1997, assault on filmmakers Rajeev Rai and Subhash Ghai in 1997, murder of Chembur builder Om Prakash Kukreja in 1995, murder of builder Pradeep Jain in 1994 and extortion threats to many film personalities.