Date: 11/22/2005
BBC NEWS, NOV 22, 2005. /// Indian bomb suspect 'confesses'/// Abu Salem is one of India's most wanted men /// Defence lawyers for a prime suspect in 1993 bombings in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) say they suspect he may have confessed under duress. /// Prosecutors lodged a sealed envelope, thought to contain the confession, at a court in the city on Monday. /// Lawyers for Abu Salem say their client maintained his innocence when they last saw him on Sunday, and they would be surprised if he had changed his plea. /// Abu Salem is also facing murder, extortion and kidnapping charges. /// Abu Salem denies any part in the bombings, which killed more than 250 people and left 1,000 injured. /// He and his companion, former Bollywood actress Monica Bedi, were arrested in Portugal in 2002 and extradited to India earlier this month. /// Challenged /// Abu Salem's lawyer, Ashok Sarogi, told the BBC that he had been present when a sealed letter was given to the judge in Mumbai by India's main investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation. /// He said the covering letter suggested that it contained a confessional statement. It will be opened in court on Tuesday, Mr Sarogi said. /// Mr Sarogi said confessions in police custody are accepted by the courts, but he wanted to find out under what circumstances any confession might have been obtained. /// He said any confession obtained by force could be challenged in court. /// Abu Salem is currently in CBI custody. A spokesman for the agency was unable to comment on reports that he had confessed. /// There are at least another 25 cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping registered against Abu Salem. /// He is also accused of terrorising Bollywood film stars and producers. /// Authorities in India say Abu Salem, an Indian Muslim, is a key associate of Indian crime lord Dawood Ibrahim. /// Hundreds were killed and injured in the blasts /// Dawood Ibrahim is also suspected of involvement in the bombings, believed to have been carried out in revenge for the deaths of hundreds of Muslims in riots in 1992. /// A Portuguese court sentenced Abu Salem to four-and-a-half years in jail in November 2003, for possession of forged documents and resisting arrest. /// Monica Bedi was sentenced to two years for using false documents. /// (SHAME ON THE CURSED LAND OF HINDUSTAN, NOW IN THE GRIP OF ITALY (SONIA) & ISLAM (ABDUL KALAM) TODAY WHERE THE “MUSALMAAN, BEIMAAN, SHAITAAN, HAIWAAN” WAS NOT KICKED OUT TO HIS PAKISTAN AND WHERE A RENEGADE DESPICABLE SIKH FEMALE UNDER A NOBLE SURNAME (BEDI) CAN ACT HIS CONCUBINE IN SIN AND TREASON.)/// ........................000000000
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