Dawood wants to kill me: Salem

MUMBAI: Underworld don Abu Salem, who was attacked inside the Arthur Road Jail last week, has said there was threat to his life from the Dawood Ibrahim gang.

Salem was attacked by Mohammed Mustafa Dossa, said to be member of the D-gang, with a sharp object on Saturday.

"In Taloja jail, there is threat to my life... In the Arthur Road jail, the Superintendent was asked not to put Dossa (in the same cell where I was lodged)... Despite that, he was put there", Salem told a TV channel.

Salem was shifted to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai on Saturday after the attack on him.

Salem denied that he was attacked following an argument with Dossa.

"I had asked the Arthur Road jail suprintendent two months back to not keep Dossa with me. But my plea was ignored and he was lodged with me. The jail suprintendent had also warned me that an attack is possible. But even after that Dossa was kept with me," he said.

An FIR against Dossa and his accomplice was registered under section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and further probe was on, police said.

Salem, who received injuries on his head, neck and shoulders was profusely bleeding when the cops reached the spot near barrack No.10 where Salem and Dossa are housed along with scores of other prisoners.

42-year-old Salem, a key accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts, has been lodged in the South Mumbai jail since his extradition from Portugal in 2005. He is facing trial in nine cases, including two murders.

The attack on Salem has left the authorities worried as Kasab, awarded death penalty by the anti-terror court three months ago in the 26/11 case, is lodged in the same jail.