Wednesday, November 23 2005 17:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: A special court, where extradited gangster Abu Salem was produced for remand, today (Nov 23, 2005) expressed concern about the security of the underworld don following a CBI report on this issue.

Designated Judge P D Kode said that from the remand report presented by CBI, there was apparent material to believe that Salem faced a threat to life.

Earlier, Judge asked the CBI if it was ready to keep Salem in its custody in view of the security concern. However, the agency replied in negative.

The court later summoned senior jail officials to consult if there was an appropriate secure place in any of the jails in and around Mumbai where the gangster can be placed till he was in the judicial custody.

The issue came for discussion after Salem was produced in the TADA court after his remand with the CBI ended today. The CBI informed that it does not need Salem's remand immediately since some of the angles that have come up during interrogation needed to be worked out.

Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that the court may send Salem to judicial custody.

Submitting a remand report, the CBI spelt the progress made in the investigations of the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts. The report also elaborated on the threat to the life of Salem, reportedly based on the findings of the central intelligence agencies.

Looking at the serious revelations made in the remand report as regards the progress of investigations by CBI, as well as the security issues of Salem, the court directed that the remand report and the case diary be sealed.

This was done to ensure that the report and the case diary was not accessible to anybody, the court said.

After the CBI informed that it does not need Salem's custody, the court then deliberated on the place where Salem could be lodged in judicial custody in wake of the threat to his life.

The possibility of Salem being lodged in Thane jail was also explored, but since it was a little far from the court, the possibility was put on hold. Later, the defence counsel submitted that Salem was ready to be lodged at Mumbai central prison at Arthur Road.

However, the court said that the jail does not have any facility to lodge Salem independently. It then summoned jail authorities to discuss the issue.

Salem, who while abroad, was running from one place to another to evade attack by rival Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Rajan gangs, was kept at a secure place in Mumbai when he was in CBI custody.

Following intelligence inputs, the CBI even discontinued practice of taking him to government hospital for routine check up and instead doctors were summoned to the CBI office.