On Thursday, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court sentenced extradited gangster Abu Salem to life imprisonment for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. Salem's journey from a small town in Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai, and then on to becoming a dreaded gangster, is no less than a Bollywood script.
Salem, who is also known by the aliases Aqil Ahmed Azmi, Captain and Abu Samaan, is a native of Mir Sarai in Azamgarh of Uttar Pradesh.
In 1985 Salem came to Mumbai to earn a living and began working as a bread delivery boy between the suburbs of Bandra and Andheri and later started working at a garment shop in Andheri, Mumbai.
"Salem later entered into real estate brokering business and began operating from Arasa Market in Andheri (W). His first brush with the crime was in 1988 when an FIR was registered against him at Andheri police station after he assaulted a colleague over a monetary issue," recounted a crime branch officer from Mumbai Police.
A police source said that in 1989, Salem came in touch with one Aziz Bilkia, who was associated D-gang. "After Dawood's sister Haseena Parkar's husband was killed by Arun Gawli gang, Salem had also attended the funeral where he got in touch with Riyaz Siddiqui, who introduced Salem to Anees," said a police officer.
After having inducted in the gang, Salem had also gone to Dubai and worked as Anees's telephone operator. "Salem had a keen interest in Bollywood and he used too give his name while issuing threat to any Bollywood personality. Salem was over smart and branded himself as a don among his victims," said the officer.
