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Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt and extradited gangster
Abu Salem are among the 115 accused who scheduled to
be present in a TADA court in Mumbai on Friday in the
Bombay serial bomb blasts case of 1993. For the first
time during the trial, the two will come face to face.
However, the cops are going to ensure that the distance
between the two be at least 10 feet as Salem is still
being interrogated and the interrogation of Sanjay Dutt
and the others is over.
It may be recalled that Salem had delivered some AK56
guns, cartridges and RDX to Dutt who stored them in
his bungalow. Besides legal action (Sanjay was arrested
and put behind bars in anda cell for several months
before being given bail), this brought a lot of disgrace
to the family of Sunil Dutt.
The serial blasts had claimed 257 lives and left hundreds
other wounded.
TADA court Judge P D Kode has issued the directive while
ordering anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of Mumbai police
to produce Salem in the court on 9th December to enable
it make the necessary changes in the chargesheet in
the case.
The gangster was shown as an absconding accused by the
CBI when it filed the chargesheet in 1993.
Now when Salem has been arrested, remanded and interrogated
after his extradition from Portugal early last month,
alterations in the chargesheet has become a judicial
necessity.
The judge, while directing the ATS to produce Salem
in the court, also ordered presence of all the remaining
114 accused in the case.
These include 84 who are out on bail; Sanjay Dutt being
one of them.
The remaining 30 accused, including the Memon family
which allegedly master-minded the serial blasts, are
in jail for varying years since 1993.
While directing the ATS to give an undertaking that
they will produce Salem in the court on Friday, Mr Kode
ordered that in the event of expiry of police remand
on 17th December, Salem will be returned to the custody
of trial court.
The gangster is under police remand till 17th December
in the 1995 murder case of builder Pradeep Jain and
the remand was granted by another TADA court Judge Pradeep
Bavkar.
Salem is under judicial custody in the blasts case till
20th December.
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