This was one flight they could not take any chances with. So two days before the authorities brought underworld don Abu Salem to Mumbai, the Gulfstream executive jet of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) which ferried him was ready at the Lisbon airport. An extra crew of the Aviation Research Centre, RAW’s aerial surveillance wing, was waiting at the tarmac of the Cairo airport as a contingency plan. These extraordinary measures were taken as CBI Director U.S. Mishra told the government on November 8 that Salem could not be brought to Mumbai on a commercial liner as there was a stopover at the Frankfurt airport. The CBI Director told Cabinet Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi that a transit visa was required for Salem and Monica Bedi at Frankfurt and there was a strong possibility of another round of legal wrangles in Germany. The CBI had strong indications that Salem’s battery of lawyers were waiting at the Frankfurt airport to pounce on any opportunity to get him picked up by the German police and ensure another round of tedious extradition proceedings. In fact, the CBI Director suggested that a flight path over Europe should be avoided at all costs as the jet would have to land in the western world in case of an emergency. Then Chaturvedi called up RAW chief P.K. Hormese Tharakan and requested him to send a RAW plane. The decision was taken in consultations with the highest levels of the government. The RAW chief then directed ARC head Amber Sen to send one of its jets to Lisbon. The Ministry of External Affairs worked overtime with the Egyptian government to allow an extra crew to be stationed at the Cairo airport. Their brief was to be on standby in case of an emergency. The flight plans were a secret and no one knew who the passengers on board were. The CBI team had arrived in Lisbon on October 29. Salem, according to Mishra, was handed over to the CBI team on the night of November 10. Along with Monica Bedi, whose extradition was decided at the last minute, he was immediately put on board the RAW aircraft and flown out of Lisbon. The RAW aircraft exited the European airspace immediately after taking off from Lisbon. It flew towards the Atlantic Ocean, entered the Mediterranean Sea and took the flight path towards Cairo, skipping Europe. The plane landed at 7.45 am at Mumbai airport on November 11.
