Passport case: Monica Bedi taken to Bhopal

     Hyderabad: Monica Bedi, girlfriend of underworld don Abu Salem, lodged in the Chanchalguda jail was shifted to Bhopal in connection with another passport forgery case pending against her. Bhopal police had obtained a production warrant from a court in Bhopal in connection with the custody of Monica Bedi. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) brought Monica Bedi from Hyderabad on November 11 in connection with a fake passport case. She was in judicial custody till November 25. The Special Judge for CBI cases had given permission to Monica's uncle, Purushottam Lal Bedi, from Hoshiyarpur district of Punjab to meet her on Thursday. Purushottam Lal Bedi also said that his niece told him that she was not married to Abu Salem. The Special Court for CBI cases, Hyderabad, has extended Monia's judicial remand till December 9. Monica was extradited from Portugal on November 11 along with Salem, touted to be a key associate of criminal syndicate leader Dawood Ibrahim, whom they say, planned and financed the bombings in Mumbai.

Permission to Monica's uncle to meet her in jail

    Earlier, the Special Judge for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases has given permission to Purushottam Lal Bedi, the uncle of Monica Bedi, girlfriend of underworld don Abu Salem, for a ten-minute meeting with her. Purushottam Bedi arrived here on Wednesday and moved a petition seeking permission to meet Monica in the Chenchalguda Jail. The court directed Bedi to identify himself and the documents proving his identity and his photographs were shown to Monica. Later, the court granted him permission to meet her. "I had mortgaged my property in Chabewal village in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab to come here and would like to take her back, if she was granted bail," said Purushottam Bedi. Meanwhile, Bedi went to the Chanchalguda Women's Prison in the hope of meeting her and waited for three hours before being told he would have to move a petition in the CBI court to meet her. Earlier, the court disallowed an application of an advocate Ruchir Batra, hired by Monica's uncle, as he did not submit a 'no objection certificate' from the counsel, already representing the case on behalf of Monica Bedi. Monica was extradited from Portugal on November 11 along with Salem, touted to be a key associate of criminal syndicate leader Dawood Ibrahim, whom they say, planned and financed the bombings in Mumbai. She is in judicial custody till November 25. The CBI had approached the court in Hyderabad for allowing it access to Bedi's signatures for the investigation in the forgery case.

Monica Bedi hires new lawyer

     Bollywood starlet and underworld don Abu Salem's companion Monica Bedi has hired Ruchir Batra as her new lawyer after consultation with her uncle Purushottam Lal Bedi. Bedi came to visit Monica from Hoshiarpur and spent 10 minutes with her at the women's prison in Hyderabad. "Initially nobody had turned up, nobody bothered to know where she was, and therefore, obviously we were deputed by the family members of Abu Salem. Now, it seems after passing of 12 days or almost 10 days , suddenly the family members have woken up and I am told some uncle was here and he had said that I would like to appoint my advocate (for Monica Bedi). Fair enough, we have no personal influence," said Ashok Sarangi who was appointed by Abu Salem's family to fight the legal battle for her. A native of Punjab's Hoshiarpur district Mr. Lal arrived here on Wednesday and filed a petition in the CBI special court seeking permission to meet Bedi. He submitted an identity card issued by his village panchayat substantiating his identity. Ashok Sarangi who has been fighting the case for quite sometime seemed nervous as he had received an SMS warning. "I am in Hyderabad now, few minutes back I received an SMS and I don't know now if that is to be taken seriously. The SMS says that fundamental duties are more important than your professional duties. Behave like a professional," added Sarangi. Meanwhile, Sarangi said that he also came to know of a notice expressing discontentment of the Portugal Government against its Indian counterpart for not keeping its promise while dealing with Salem. "Listen, I do not know what exactly the notice says. I was just told by her brother that the lawyers and the human right activists of Portugal are protesting against the ongoing torture on them. And also their government has written to the Indian government complaining the breach of promise," said Sarangi. Monica Bedi, was shifted to Bhopal in connection with another passport forgery case. A special team of Bhopal police, which had obtained a production warrant against Bedi from the court of the chief Judicial Magistrate (first class), took her to Bhopal on Thursday night.

Abu Salem's lawyer alleges police are harassing his client

     The lawyer of underworld don Abu Salem, one of the main accused in the 1993 Mumbai blast case, Ashok Sarogi said on Friday that his client had been beaten up in police custody. Sarogi was in Hyderabad in connection with a forgery case of Monica Bedi, who was arrested along with Abu Salem. "Rashid (another counsel of Salem) had gone to see him as per the court order. Rashid later told me that he (Salem) was beaten up and if it continued then his condition would become bad," Sarogi said. Sarogi also said that the Portuguese government had lodged a protest in connection with the alleged beating up of Salem. "Some lawyers and Human Rights activists from there (Portugal) moved the court and their government has sent a notice to the Indian Government. It's a sort of protest. They (Portugal) have said that you have breached the treaty. You promised that the convict would not be harassed but he has been beaten. This is sort of a protest. This is what I have been informed," he said. The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai police was on Thursday given Abu Salem's custody in connection with the murder of a real estate developer, Pradip Jain and had been remanded to police custody until December 2. Salem, 36, was extradited from Portugal along with Monica Bedi, a failed Bollywood actor. Police accuse Salem of being a key associate of criminal syndicate leader Dawood Ibrahim, whom they say planned and financed the bombings in Mumbai. Salem has been held in Portugal since he was arrested with Bedi in 2002 for fake documents and resisting arrest. A Portuguese court sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in prison in November 2003. Bedi was sentenced to two years in prison for using false documents.