A court in New Delhi on Thursday sentenced gangster Abu Salem to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment in an extortion case from 2002. The court announced the quantum of punishment on Thursday after hearing arguments by both the prosecution and the defence, PTI reported.
On May 26, the Patiala House Court had held Salem guilty of demanding Rs 5 crore as protection money from Delhi-based businessman Ashok Gupta. Other accused in the case – Chanchal Mehta, Majid Khan, Pawan Kumar Mittal and Mohammad Ashraf – were acquitted One of the accused, Sajjan Kumar Soni, died during the course of the trial.
Salem, who was extradited from Portugal in November 2005, was granted bail in the case in 2013. Earlier this year, he alleged that the trial violated his extradition order. He had also argued that there was no evidence to prove that he sought money from Gupta.
Currently, Salem is in jail in connection with other cases, including those related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
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