Prosecution allowed to drop lesser charges against Abu Salem

The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court today allowed the prosecution to drop some less serious charges against deported gangster Abu Salem in connection with the murder of city-based real estate developer Pradeep Jain in 1995.
"We filed an application in the special court, saying that some less serious charges under the Indian Penal Code and and TADA may be dropped and the court has upheld our application," special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said today.
Nikam said that earlier Abu Salem had moved an application in court seeking that charges of criminal conspiracy against him in the murder case be dropped due to the order of the constitutional court of Portugal which had terminated his extradition.

"We told the court that charges were withdrawn to maintain cordial relations between India and Portugal, but we contended that charges of criminal conspiracy would not be dropped," Nikam said.
Abu Salem, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, after a prolonged legal battle.
According to the police, on March 7, 1995, a city-based real estate developer Pradeep Jain was shot dead by assailants outside his Juhu bungalow after he allegedly refused to part with his huge property for Abu Salem.
The court is presently trying Abu Salem, real estate developer Virendra Jhamb, Mehndi Hassan and Riyaz Siddiqui for their alleged roles in the Jain murder case.