Abu Salem jailed for 7 years in 2002 extortion case

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday sentenced gangster Abu Salem to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for demanding Rs 5 crore as protection money from a Delhi-based businessman in 2002, saying that he is a “hardened criminal” and the punishment should be a lesson for him and others.

Additional sessions judge Tarun Sehrawat passed the order after hearing arguments on the sentence by the prosecution and defence lawyers.

The court imposed the maximum punishment for the offence and a fine of Rs 10,000 on him. “As per the case of the prosecution, the convict is a hard core criminal who indulged in the activities of extending threats and extortion under the fear of death and he has been previously involved in several cases of similar nature...

“Therefore, he deserves severe punishment of such a magnitude that the same should be a lesson for the convict and an alarming lesson for others,” the judge said. The prosecution, while seeking maximum sentence for Salem, had argued that he was an “underworld don” and a “synonym of terror” involved in various heinous offences.

Lawyer M.S. Khan, appearing for Salem, had denied the allegations levelled against his gangster client. He contended that the trial in the case violated the order by which the gangster was extradited from Portugal to India.

“The convict is not entitled to get any kind of leniency from this court for the purpose of sentence. Hence, I award the convict Abu Salem Ansari the maximum sentence of rigorous imprisonment for seven years and a fine of Rs 10,000,” the judge said.

The court had convicted Salem in the case on May 26. The court had, however, acquitted the other accused — Chanchal Mehta, Majid Khan, Pawan Kumar Mittal, and Mohammad Ashraf — citing lack of evidence against them. One of the accused, Sajjan Kumar Soni, died during the trial.

In the extortion case lodged in Delhi, it was alleged that Salem had demanded Rs 5 crore as protection money from businessman Ashok Gupta, a resident of Greater Kailash, in 2002. Salem was convicted under Sections 387 (putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) of the IPC.

Salem, who was extradited from Portugal in November 2005, is facing various other cases, including those related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts. He is currently lodged in Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai.

The court imposed the maximum punishment for the offence and a fine of Rs 10,000 on Abe Salem, saying that the punishment should be a lesson for him and others.