‘Abu Salem deserves nothing but death penalty in 1993 Mumbai blasts case’

Mumbai city news: After seeking capital punishment for four convicts, which included Mustafa Dossa who died of cardiac attack last week, the prosecution on Tuesday sought life imprisonment for extradited gangster Abu Salem and Riyaz Siddique.

The prosecution on Tuesday concluded the arguments on quantum of sentence against six convicts in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

Salvi accused Salem of being a ‘habitual offender’ and that the Indian government had submitted a list of his crimes to the Portugal government while taking his custody in 2005 (HT)

After seeking capital punishment for four convicts, which included Mustafa Dossa who died of cardiac attack last week, the prosecution on Tuesday sought life imprisonment for extradited gangster Abu Salem and Riyaz Siddique. Apart from Dossa, the prosecution has sought death penalty for Firoz Khan, Karimmulla Khan and Tahir Merchant.

While seeking life imprisonment for Salem, special CBI counsel Deepak Salvi said that Salem deserved nothing but death penalty for his role of ‘transporting a car full of ammunition from Bharuch to Mumbai’.

Salvi termed Salem as one of the conspirators of the 1993 blasts. “In 1993, Salem was a member of Dawood and Anees Ibrahim’s gang and held a position of authority,” he said.

He argued that Salem had two passports which he used to escape.

Salvi accused Salem of being a ‘habitual offender’ and that the Indian government had submitted a list of his crimes to the Portugal government while taking his custody in 2005. Salem was brought to be tried in nine cases. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in extortion and murder of builder Pradeep Jain last year.

However, Salvi said that he was constrained by section 34(c) of the Indian Extradition Act. Under this, Salem cannot be sentenced to death or for more than 25 years of imprisonment. However, Salvi urged the court to mention that Salem deserves nothing but death penalty. On a question by judge GA Sanap on such a demand, Salvi said the ‘ country should know the serious offences Salem had committed.

The defence lawyers will begin their arguments on the quantum of sentence on Wednesday.