Dutt, Salem come face-to-face at court
- IndiaGlitz, [Saturday,December 10 2005]
Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, accused of having a close relationship with Abu Salem, Friday appeared together with the extradited gangster before a special court, though there was no interaction between the two.
Salem, accused of masterminding the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that killed hundreds of people and injured several others, is also accused of providing an AK-56 rifle to Dutt, who is one of the nearly 100 people accused in the blasts case.
Dutt was present at the designated Terrorist And Disruptive Activities (TADA) court here for a regular attendance, while Salem was produced as the court had decided to amend charges against him.
Salem, a former aide turned rival of Pakistan-based underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was extradited to India Nov 11 by Portugal along with his companion - former Bollywood actress Monica Bedi.
While Dutt occupied the last seat in the court, Salem was seated close to the lawyers and court staff, away from rest of the accused and cordoned by officials of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police.
Dutt and Salem neither exchanged pleasantries nor made any eye contact with each other.