When he was arrested in 1991 for extortion,Abu Salem shivered in front of a cop fearing for his life. But somewhere down the lane he became a manly don
By Manu Joseph/TNN
Not everybody likes to come home. Mumbai police know that. In recent years they have been unaffection ate receivers of gangsters deported from Dubai and elsewhere in the region which have an unusual method of extradition. Like in the case of Tariq Parveen, a top aide of Dawood Ibrahim, the goons are first put in a plane headed to Mumbai, and when the flight has taken off, the home ministry in Delhi is informed. Mumbai’s cops then frantically rush to the airport to nab the unescorted criminals. But in the case of one of their most wanted men, Abu Salem Abdul Qayoom Ansari, the package landed from Portugal smoothly. It was a tame end to the folk tale of the second-most newsworthy Indian criminal, the 5 foot 4 inch multimillionaire with unascertainable wealth in the Middle East.
According to CBI records, Abu Salem was born in 1969, in Mir Sarai, Uttar Pradesh. It is believed that his father was an advocate who died about twenty years ago in a motor cycle accident. He has three brothers, a sister and an old ailing mother. The fam ily today is said to have a modest assort ment of small shops that sells spare parts and clothes. Mohammed Shahid who describes himself as a family friend, says that the family feels the pain of Abu Salem because he is blood but beyond that there is no bond. For nearly two decades, the family claims, it has had nothing to do with him.
The boy who grew up in UP selling trouser zippers and clothes, became something else after intermission. He was 16 when he left home and came to Mumbai, possibly after a brief stint in Nepal. He sold vada pav in Bandra and did several other odd jobs before becoming a clothes merchant. Somehow, he got acquainted with the city’s mafia and was eventually introduced to Dawood Ibrahim, probably by gangster Anees Ibrahim. He is believed to have served as an underworld car driver before being promoted as arms supplier.
It was around this time, in 1991 when A A Khan, then additional commissioner of police, north west Mumbai, heard of a thug trying to extort money from small time businessmen. “I sent two men to go pick him up. When he was presented before me, he appeared to be an ordinary scared miserable chap who thought we were going to bump him off. He was so small time. There was nothing impressive about him.’’ Salem was released soon but the routine fingerprint record that was taken would come to haunt him. When Salem was in Lisbon fighting India’s extradition attempt, the only proof that he was indeed Salem was provided by the fingerprint and photographs taken after his arrest by A A Khan.
This characterisation of Khan of a petrified lad is very different from the perception of Abu Salem by his victims. After being released from jail for his petty extortion attempt, his ascent in the underworld was spectacular. He rose very quickly to become an integral part of the don’s inner circle with a specialty in extorting from the Hindi film industry, channelling illicit money into film production, forcibly getting the dates of stars, and usurping overseas rights. He continued more aggressively on this path after his estrangement with Dawood Ibrahim who had by then evolved into being some sort of a paid protector of filmdom. His friction with Shakeel and Dawood’s favouring of Shakeel is said to be the reason behind Salem’s split from the D-Company.
According police sources, Salem had a nexus with Ali Budeshi, a Bahrain-based gangster, with whom he joined forces to embarrass Dawood. Every time Salem would attack the film industry, it was considered a snub to the don.
By the standards of gangsters at least, Abu Salem was said to be good looking. In fact, in the leaked Bharat Shah tapes, the reference to a character called chikna was first mistaken for Hrithik Roshan before cops privately confirmed to journalists that it was Abu Salem’s street name.
Though he terrorised the film world, he was also an incorrigible fan who was taken in by the skin and glamour of the industry. Subash Ghai, in an interview with this reporter a few years ago said while admitting that Salem had called him up asking for overseas rights of the film Pardes, “He actually started the conversation this way, ‘Sir, I want the rights for Pardes. Don’t mistake me. I have been your fan ever since I saw Karz.’’’ When Ghai told Salem that the matter of overseas rights was already settled, Salem very respectfully asked for a print of the film so that he could pirate it.
He is known to have made such polite requests to several film-makers. Struggling actors in his vigil have found jobs after he made pleasant calls.
Abu Salem, in many ways, typifies Mumbai’s mafia of the nineties that was eventually swatted by the policy of encounters. He dreamt big, talked big, loved the fair beauty of film stars and cherished his power over them. He is also known to make a philosophy out of loyalty. It’s hard to miss the fact that his association with still-born starlet Monica Bedi has lasted longer than most marriages.
Pahlaj Nihalani claim The police to have foiled a plan by Salem to target the film-maker and shot dead two men in an encounter
Rajiv Rai attempt There was on an his life at his Tardeo office. He survived because of the presence of mind of a police guard
Mukesh Duggal was The producer murdered in a housing colony in Juhu. He was suspected to be a frontman for Salem who had double-crossed him
Ajit Diwani actors The secretary Manisha to Koirala and Aftab Shivdasani was shot dead by two Salem aides at his Oshiwara office in June 2001
Dinesh Anand The small-time actor was shot dead by Salem at National Park in
Borivli because he was a close associate of Mukesh Duggal
(With inputs from Meenakshi Sinha, Somit Sen and Mateen Hafeez) WHO: Music baron Gulshan Kumar
WHAT: Killed in D N Nagar
WHEN: August 1997
The music mogul was repeatedly threatened by Salem himself for extortion. When he refused to pay up, he was gunned down outside a Shiv temple by Salem’s men
WHO: Film director Rakesh Roshan
WHAT: Shot at in his office
WHEN: January 2000
Roshan was asked to part with the overseas rights of his film ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’. When he refused, two men fired six bullets at him. One hit him on the arm
WHO: Film-maker J P Dutta
WHAT: Extortion calls
WHEN: May 2000
Was targeted for his film ‘Refugee’. The person believed to have been assigned the task of firing at Dutta was gunned down in an encounter
WHO: Film-maker Subhash Ghai
WHAT: Extortion calls
WHEN: August 1997
Threatening calls were made to Dutta before the release of ‘Pardes’ starring Shah Rukh Khan and Mahima Choudhary. He complained to the police chief
WHO: Actor and producer Aamir Khan
WHAT: Extortion calls
WHEN: June 2001
He was threatened and asked to part with the overseas rights of his film ‘Lagaan’. The police tracked down four men in the case and gunned them down
