Abu Salem gets life for builder’s murder

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 25

The special court set up under the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) today sentenced gangster Abu Salem to life imprisonment for murdering Mumbai builder Pradeep Jain in 1995.

Special Judge GA Sanap also awarded life imprisonment to Salem’s driver Mehndi Hassan. The third man to be convicted in the case, Virendra Jhamb, was let off since he had already spent nine months in prison during the investigation.

“Abu Salem and Mehndi Hasan have been convicted for Pradeep Jain’s murder. Abu Salem had been misleading the law since 1985 but was finally caught in 2005 in Portugal. He tried everything to save himself and finally today he has been sentenced,” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.

Earlier this month, the TADA court had found all three guilty of the murder. Salem had ordered the killing of Jain at the behest of Jhamb and Hasan who were looking to grab the victim’s property, according to the prosecution. Jain was shot dead on March 7, 1995 outside his bungalow in Mumbai’s Juhu.

This is the first case in which Salem, who was extradited to India from Portugal in 2005, was found guilty. The prosecution relied on the statements by one of the accused persons, Naeem Khan, who had turned approver in the matter. Another approver, Riyaz Siddiqui, turned hostile. According to Ujjwal Nikam Abu Salem was convicted under section 302 (murder) 120 B (conspiracy) of the IPC and other relevant sections of TADA.