Saturday, November 19 2005 15:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: A special court today (Nov 19,2005) allowed Abu Les, brother of extradited gangster Abu Salem, to meet the accused in CBI custody for 15 minutes after proper verification by the investigating agency.

The permission was granted by designated judge P D Kode who heard Abu Les' plea. Les' advocate O A Siddiqui prayed that Abu Les was Abu Salem's brother and had come down from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh to meet his kin.

He prayed that on humanitarian ground, the court may allow the meeting between the brothers as they would come face to face after many years. Abu Les arrived here from his native place after hearing about Salem's extradition from Portugal.

Armed with the court order, Les would now move CBI for permission to meet Salem after proving his identity, Siddiqui said.

When Salem was produced before the court soon after his arrest on November 11, the gangster had told the court that he had no relatives and did not wish to inform anyone about his arrest.