Salem retracts Sanjay Dutt statement in 146;93 blasts case

Extradited don Abu Salem on Tuesday retracted a part of his confessional statement on Tuesday before the designated Terrorist and Disruptive...

Extradited don Abu Salem on Tuesday retracted a part of his confessional statement on Tuesday before the designated Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act TADA court in the 1993 serial blasts case. Salem8217;s lawyer Ashok Sarogi told the court that Salem had given the statement 8216;8216;under pressure8217;8217; and he was 8216;8216;ill-treated8217;8217;.

This is the third time that Salem has retracted a statement. Earlier, he had done so in builder Pradeep Jain8217;s murder case8212;being investigated by the Anti-Terrorist Squad8212;and in actors Manisha Koirala and Aftab Shivdasani8217;s secretary Ajit Deewani8217;s murder case, which is being investigated by the Mumbai Crime Branch.

According to Sarogi, Salem has retracted only the second part of his statement, which was recorded before Central Bureau of Investigation CBI Deputy Inspector General Special Task Force O P Chatwal in November 2005, admitting his role in the 1993 serial blasts.

The statement was made public at the designated TADA court on March 1 after the CBI filed a 84-page supplementary chargesheet against Salem in the serial blasts case.

In the first part of his statement, Salem had pointed out how he had allegedly delivered arms and ammunition from Bhiwandi, in Thane, to actor Sanjay Dutt8217;s Pali Hill residence, in the presence of other blast accused, Magnum Video co-owner Sameer Hingora and Hanif Kadavala. Salem claimed that he was under the assumption that he and one Aziz, who dealt in gold and silver, were delivering silver. In the second part of his confession, Salem said that 8216;8216;after two days he again visited Dutt8217;s residence to collect a handbag, which contained two AK-56 rifles, hand grenades and delivered it to Aziz in Mahim8217;8217;.

Salem said he didn8217;t know he was delivering weapons at the instance of Dawood Ibrahim8217;s brother Anees from Dubai. He also retracted the statement that he fled to Dubai with his first wife Samira Jumani using passports with fake identities.

8216;8216;Salem said he was 8216;ill-treated8217; and was under pressure, but he was produced before the court several times, then why did he retract his statement now?8217;8217; asked Special Public Prosecutor Ujjawal Nikam. 8216;8216;But this won8217;t affect us as our case is watertight.8217;8217;