Third time unlucky in love for Abu Salem; Mumbra woman latest to leave him

Underworld don Abu Salem seems to have been tossed aside by a partner for the third time The latest woman to have apparently walked out on the gangster hails from Mumbra and came into the spotlight after being photographed alongside the mafioso who was travelling by train for a hearing a few years ago midday published pictures of the lovebirds on July 4 2016 Two years later the report was confirmed when Salem sought parole to marry His application however was rejectedSalem who is serving a 25year sentence in Panvelrsquos Taloja Central Jail was married to one Sumaira Jumani in the early 1990s but she divorced him when he was behind bars He was later linked to Bollywood actress Monica Bedi who was extradited with him from Portugal Whatever hopes he may have had of tying the knot the second time seem to be dashedPictures of Abu Salem and the woman published exclusively by this newspaper seven years agoThe woman photographed with Salem in 2016 got married on January 5 in a Mumbrabased marriage hall midday is in possession of the wedding invitation and photos but has refrained from publishing them to protect her identity as she begins her new life After the news of the wedding spread questions were raised as to whether she had ditched Salem or if there was another reason for getting marriedSources close to the family claim she had not married Salem officially But there was also news that the couple had solemnised their union on a moving train by performing nikah with the help of a kazi in 2014 and was also trying to get married officially but it didnrsquot work out as the jail authorities and local administration denied permission for paroleldquoSeeing no sign of hope the woman may have opted to get settled rather than wait for Salem who will spend most of his life in prison after being convicted in the 1993 bomb blasts caserdquo a source revealed The wedding was attended by wellknown political leaders businessmen and scholars from Mumbra and other parts of the city Questions have been raised as to whether Salem is aware of the marriageAlso if the news that she performed a nikah with the gangster on a train were true she would have to obtain talaq divorce before performing nikah with a new person as per Sharia law Only the gangster can answer these questions In July 2016 midday exclusively carried pictures of Salem Ansari and the woman on a train in a report titled lsquoDon and his honeymoon travelsrsquo prompting a police investigation where the statements of the woman and close family members of hers were recordedThe investigatorsrsquo findingsThe woman now in her early 30s rose to infamy after allegedly travelling with Abu Salem on January 5 2014 to Azamgarh The Thane police which investigated the matter found that her mobile location matched with that of Salem while he was travelling The woman and her relatives however claimed that the mobile SIM card issued in her name had been used by her maternal grandfather who was travelling with Salem as he was taking care of his legal workFoiled parole planOn February 16 2018 Abu Salem wrote a letter to Taloja Central Jail authorities seeking 45day parole to get married under the Special Marriage Act on May 5 2018 at Mumbra The letter was then forwarded to the divisional commissioner Konkan division on March 23 that year In the letter Salem claimed that he had been behind bars for more than 12 years and had never been on parole or taken any leave earlierThe divisional commissioner then forwarded the letter to the Thane police commissionerate which then forwarded it to the Mumbra police station on April 5 11 and 16 2018 to verify Salemrsquos claims and check if parole could be granted to the convictThe Mumbra cops started looking into the claims and also questioned and recorded the statements of the woman and family members who wanted to stand as surety for Salem However permission for the marriage was denied by the local administration and police citing various reasons Sources also claimed that the womanrsquos family had been sending a tiffin to Salem until the past few years It is also said that the womanrsquos relatives were taking care of Salems legal cases and paperwork midday tried to contact the womans family but received no response by press timePolice SpeakA senior Thane police officer said ldquoThe woman has no criminal record Hence we have not kept an eye on her We were not aware that she got married recently but we will check the claims as Salem had sought parole and leave in the pastrdquoAbout Abu Salemgtgt In Sept 2002 Abu Salem was arrested along with Monica Bedi by Interpol in Lisbon Portugal In 2004 a Portugal court cleared his extradition to India to face trial in the 1993 Bombay blasts casegtgt In November 2005 Portuguese authorities handed him over to India on the assurance by the government of India that the death penalty would not be handed out Salem was convicted in the blasts case and murder of music baron Gulshan Kumargtgt In 2017 the special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act court convicted six men including Salem for playing a role in the blasts which killed 257 people and injured 713 While Salem and Karimullah Khan were sentenced to life the TADA court sentenced Taher Merchant and Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan to deathgtgt In another case Salem was sentenced to life by a TADA court in 2015 after finding him guilty in the 1995 murder case of builder Pradeep Jaingtgt In 2018 India told a Portuguese court that Salem would not be extradited to Portugal until he completed his 25year sentence The government was responding to an application Salem made in the Lisbon court asking to be taken backJan 5Day woman tied knot with another man2002Year Salem was arrested by Interpol