Salem confesses to having made extortion calls to businessmen here

New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) Underworld don Abu Salem, presently in 7-day custody of the Delhi Police, has confessed to having made threatening calls to two South Delhi-based businessmen for extorting money.

During questioning with Special Cell sleuths Salem told that he did make threatening calls to seek extortion money from two businessmen in Delhi, according to a senior official interrogating him.

''Just some minor clarification needs to be made on the issue. By and large he has confessed to his involvement in the extortion cases.'' While the first case relates to a Greater Kailash businessman Ashok Gupta, who was threatened in April 2002 by Salem the other one was Rajat Nagrath, owner of Allied Communications in East of Kailash here, said the official.

Underworld don and one of the prime accused in the Mumbai blasts case Abu Salem was brought here on May 21 by sleuths of the Anti-Terrorist Squad of the Mumbai Police by train after his appeal to be sent by plane on health grounds was rejected by the court there.

Salem, who has three cases against him in Delhi -- one of criminal conspiracy to kill gangster Babloo Srivastava (with the Crime Branch) and two cases of extortion from two South-Delhi based businessmen (with the Special Cell) -- was yesterday produced in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Seema Maini at Tis Hazari who sentenced him to seven days police remand.

Earlier, the court had issued production warrant against Salem on three occasions which had been stayed by a Mumbai court citing security reasons.

Extradited from Portugal in November 2005 for his alleged role in the March 1993 Mumbai blasts, that left 257 dead and another 713 injured, Salem was presently under Mumbai Police's judicial custody.

UNI