Abu Salem treated for bullet injury, back in cell

Gangster Abu Salem, who was shot at inside the Taloja Central Jail (TCJ) Thursday, returned to his cell Friday morning after being treated for a bullet injury, a police official said.

"He was admitted and treated at the MGM Hospital, Vashi last (Thursday) evening and kept there overnight. The accused has been transferred back to TCJ this morning. There is no cause for any concern on his health condition," a senior police official, preferring not to be identified, told IANS.

To a query whether he would be shifted elsewhere from Taloja jail, the official declined to comment saying the decision would be taken by the jail administration in consultation with the home department.

Salem - accused in the 1993 Mumbai serials blasts and other major cases - was attacked inside a jail for the second time in four years after he was deported from Portugal in 2005.

Two bullets were allegedly fired from a country-made gun at close range by an inmate Devendra Jagtap in the jail courtyard Thursday at about 6.30 p.m.

However, Salem is believed to have ducked and fled towards his cell, escaping with just a bullet grazing his right arm.

"The motive behind the attack, how the weapon reached inside the jail and other related issues are being investigated," said Navi Mumbai Police Comissioner A.K. Sharma said Friday.

The incident happened in the high-security Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, Raigad district, sending shock-waves in the police and jail security echelons.

Jagtap, known as JD in mafia circles, is said to be a close aide of Vijay Shetty, rival of the absconding mafia don Chhota Rajan Nikhalje.

Jagtap, sentenced for the killing of a prominent criminal lawyer Shahid Azmi, had been detected carrying a gun in 2011 when he was attending a court hearing.

On Thursday, he had been taken for a court hearing and investigators are probing whether the weapon was slipped to him sometime during the day.

Salem had been attacked in July 2010 inside the maximum security Arthur Road Central Jail in Mumbai by a rival gangster Mustafa Dossa with a spoon sharpened into a knife-like weapon.

Following that incident, Salem was shifted to Taloja jail as a precautionary measure, and Dossa shifted to Thane Jail.