Mumbai: Abu Salem, whose name once spelt terror in Bollywood, is now a devastated man. For, actor Monica Bedi, whom he claimed to have married, has said that she was never married to the underworld don.

And ever since the actress announced her denial on a television reality show, Salem has gone into depression, say senior jail authorities.

"Salem is so shattered that he cries like a child and has stopped eating. Last week, he fell ill - he had high fever and refused to eat or drink anything. He has become very weak and lost a lot of weight," said a senior jail officer. According to the records available in the jail, the whole of last week Salem had fever ranging from 102 to 104 degrees.

A few days ago, he went to a senior officer and cried like a child for more than 45 minutes. "He is shocked by what Monica has said on TV. He said that the girl, for whom he left all his illegal activities and decided to lead a clean life, has betrayed him. It's a shock he is unable to handle," the officer said.

Salem told a jail official that if Monica wanted a divorce he was ready for it, but her denial that she was never married to him had left him devastated. "Is this love?," the lovelorn Salem questioned the official.

A constable, who is on duty at the high-security barrack where Salem is lodged, said that the don has become a loner. "He keeps to himself and does not talk to anybody. He sits in his cell the whole day and cries. He has is in possession several letters written and sent to him by Monica. He keeps reading them over and over again," the constable said.

A jail official recollected that when Salem was arrested and lodged at the Arthur Road jail in 2005,he would talk to jail officials and involve himself in several jail activities. "These days he stays inside his cell and does not even reply when jail officials ask him something," the officer said.

Source : DNA