Mumbai: Underworld don Abu Salem was in a quiet reflective mood on Thursday as he spent his eighth wedding anniversary in Arthur Road Jail after claiming to have married starlet Monica Bedi, who however denies having tied the knot.

The only guest on this day for extradited gangster, being tried for 1993 serial Mumbai bomb blast, was his lawyer Raja Thakur.

Salem has been reading letters and greeting cards sent to him by Monica since 2001 and he is feeling "very lonely", Thakur said after visiting him.

"Although Monica has been denying her marriage with the don, Salem claims that they got married in a mosque in Los Angeles in November 2000," Thakur said.

Notwithstanding Monica's denial, Salem celebrated his eighth marriage anniversary as a special day without Bedi, who was recently evicted from reality TV show Bigg Boss.

The one-time starlet has stuck to her position that she was never married to Salem and maintained in several media interviews that though she knew the underworld don for several years, they had never got married.

Interestingly, in the Bigg Boss reality show, Monica was seen getting close to Rahul Mahajan, son of slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. After he opted out of the show, Rahul said both of them were "good friends and not more than that".

Salem had sent two legal notices to Monica last month following her denial of their "marriage" stating that he was "deeply hurt and distressed" by her statements.

Salem said his anguish has been "multiplied manifold" since he is unable to communicate with Bedi. Salem has been lodged at the Arthur road jail ever since his deportation from Portugal in November 2005.

Salem claimed that he had always actively encouraged and supported Bedi's acting career and that he was willing to "move out of her life", if their "marriage" was causing her any hardship in that regard.

In an emotional vein, Salem said in his notice that his "love for Bedi shall never diminish or fade away even if she desired to split up or sever their marital ties."

He said if she wanted "divorce" then she could communicate the same to him in writing and he would "though heart-broken", will give talaq.

Source : DNA