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India asks Portugal to deport Abu Salem

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani said in Bhubaneswar on Saturday that India had sent a note to Portugal seeking deportation of gangster Abu Salem, a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, and his companion Monica Bedi.

The Interpol had arrested the two in Lisbon on Wednesday.

New Delhi is willing to give it in writing to Lisbon that Salem will not be sentenced to death if found guilty of the charges against him, he said.

According to a convention to which European Union countries are signatories, an accused cannot be deported to a country where he may be executed.

Portugal has detained Salem for three months and during this period the Central Bureau of Investigation, with the help of the Interpol, will try to get him deported.

"I hope during this period the task would be completed and Salem would be brought back and tried for the crimes he has committed," he said.

Home ministry sources said Advani spoke to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the issue.

A CBI team is likely to leave for Lisbon shortly, the sources added.

Meanwhile, the Bhopal police on Friday issued arrest warrants against the two. The warrants were issued in connection with a murder and for obtaining a forged passport, the police said on Saturday.

The sources said Salem was arrested on the basis of ten prints that the CBI had given to Interpol.

The CBI was following the movement of the gangster for quite some time, the sources said, adding that Salem went to the United States where he started buying properties.

Indian agencies contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is also associated with the investigation, the sources said. Both the FBI and the Indian agencies suspect that Salem was a "conduit" in funding Al Qaeda.

From the US, Salem fled to Portugal and the Interpol promptly informed the CBI about his movements in that country. When the Interpol had gathered some solid evidence, the CBI sent the fingerprints, they said.

PTI

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