Excelsior... Nation

From motor mechanic to mafia don - Salem’s road to crime

SARAI MIR (UP), Oct 8: From a motor mechanic in a garage in the narrow and cramped lanes of this small town in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon - underworld mafia don Abu Salem’s journey had as dramatic an end as was its beginning.

Few had imagined in his native place that a simple boy, as Salem was then was when he left his home about 18 years ago in search of livelihood like thousands others, would make it so big in the crime capital of the country.

Salem, second among four brothers, was literally forced into the mechanic’s job after his father, a lawyer, was killed in an accident when he was very young.

The transformation of the lawyer’s son into a mafia don was "really surprising" given the fact that Salem had no previous criminal history here, said the SHO of Sarai Mir police station O P Dubey.

One may call it terror of the don or people’s indifference, but the fact remains that a stoic silence greets a visitor in the "Pathan Tola", the locality where Salem had spent his early years.

It appears as if Salem is a total stranger here and one has to ask scores of people before one could locate the don’s house at the far end of the town.

"No one is here (in Salem’s house). His (Salem) mother is ill and has gone treatment at Bharahwa (a town on the Nepal border)," said Tarannum, who claimed that she was Salem’s niece, on being approached at the gate of the don’s house.

One could see the bags of cement, sand and timber materials on the veranda of the house but there were no labourers.

On being asked about the house, which is still under construction had stopped since the labourers had gone to their native place in Bihar.

She did not reply when asked whether the don had provided the money for constructing the house.

The neighbourers, however, on condition of anonymity revealed that the construction work, which had started a year ago, had come to a halt when the inmates fled after Salem’s arrest.

Apparently reluctant to answer any question about Salem, Tarannum charged the media with ‘harassing’ the don’s family members.

On being pressed, she admitted that Salem maintained regular contact with his family here.

"He had asked his two brothers Abu Jaish and Abu Laish to shift to Lucknow and asked Abu Hakeem to look after the family business here when there was a dispute in the family", she said

Salem, who married to a local girl at an early age, divorced his wife barely six months after the wedlock, Tarannum said.

Though there are conflicting claims about Salem’s visit to his native place, there are some who allege that the don had visited his family some years ago.

Some people in the neighbourhood also claim that Salem regularly provided monetary help to his near and dear ones.

That the underworld don had made huge investments in his native place was reflected in the palatial house and a couple of commercial complexes in the town, where the land prices are as high as Rs. 70 thousand per square feet.

Salem’s rise in the Mumbai underworld had attracted several youths from the area to Mumbai, who were ready to work as his hencmen in lieu of monetary gains.

A police officer on condition of anonymity said in fact the nearby areas such as Phulpur, Mubarakpur and Nizamabad had, over the years, become a rich source of supply of ‘shooters’, who were prepared to "kill" on the instructions of their "masters".

Two of the three associates of Salem, who were recently arrested in New Delhi, were also from these areas, he said.

Sources in the district police reveal that Salem had a "strong network" in the area and his henchmen, led by his brother Abu Hakeem alias Chunchun were involved in several henious crimes.

The sources said the don had allegedly threatened to kill the then district police chief when the latter had arrested Hakeem on charges of killing a woman by setting her ablaze in 1998.

Hakeem was later let of after the victim’s family members were ‘coerced’ into making a confession that the woman’s death was an accident, sources alleged.

Several cases of assault and hawala dealings were registered in Sarai Mir and Mumbarak Pur police stations against Hakeem, Dubey said.

Incidentally Hakeem, as well as the other two brothers of the don had gone ‘under ground’ the day Salem was nabbed in Lisbon, HES said.

Dubey said the police was maintaining a strict watch on Salem’s house here.

Though Salem’s arrest has activated the police machinery, which had stepped up vigil in the area, it remains to be seen if the don’s arrest would be able to prevent the local youths from being lured into the Mumbai underworld. (PTI)

CBI positive on Salem’s extradition

NEW DELHI, Oct 8: Striking a positive note about the extradition of underworld don and main accused in 1993 Mumbai bomb blast Abu Salem, CBI today said Portugese authorities understood the urgency of New Delhi of questioning of the elusive don and also did not rule out the possibility of sending another team to Lisbon.

"The three-member team will brief us on the developments but I am happy that Portugese authorities have appreciated our urgency of bringing him here," CBI Director P C Sharma told PTI here.

Sharma said the team had explained the Indian laws to them and had gathered a thorough knowledge about their laws. Our future strategy will be based within the two legal framework and I don’t rule out the possibility of sending another team to Lisbon, Sharma said.

Commenting on the co-operation extended to the CBI team in Lisbon, Sharma said they were treated very well by the Portugese administration and had effective and well co-ordinated co-opertation from the Indian mission there.

The three-member team comprising Additional Director Vijay Shakar, Superintendent of Police O P Chatwal and agency legal head S K Sharma arrived here last night after spending nearly two weeks in Lisbon immediately after Salem, along with his girl friend Monica Bedi, were detained last month.

The CBI Director said a criminal profile of Abu Salem who is wanted by India in 71 cases of murder, extortion, forgery and criminal intimidation, was handed over to the Portugese authorities.

Asked about the chances of his deportation, Sharma said we are very hopeful that we will achieve our goal soon.

"We are dealing with a criminal, who is away in a different democratic country. We have to show utmost respect to their laws and everything will take time," Sharma said.

India has already sent a deportation request to Lisbon, which was being extensively examined by the Portugese authorities.

Meanwhile, hectic consultations were on between home and Law Ministries about the executive assurance of exempting Salem from been awarded a capital punishment.

It may be mentioned that Portugal is against award of deat sentence to anyone.

Official sources said that there was a provision in the constitution of giving such an assurance. (PTI)

Film set designers dazzle Kolkata Durga Puja

KOLKATA, Oct 8: Traditional pandal decorators are Passi. Set designers are the fad this year.

Artistry meets divinity in Kolkata with big Puja committees introducing novelty to the whole concept of idol making and pandal decor to ensure maximum turnout of the pandal crawlers. And what better than these film and television sitcom set designers who are past masters at creating illusions on screen and merchandising dreams.

Gautam Basu, who has designed sets for Mrinal Sen’s ‘Amar Bandhan’ Aparna Sen’s ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’ and a Bollywood film, has been commissioned by a Puja committee in Bakulbagan in South Kolkata to design the pandal and the idol. The Durga image he has sculpted is modelled on an ancient image with the embellishment of heavy gold jewellery. A series of stained glass paintings depicting the potraits of literary and political figures like Kabir, Lalan Fakir, Nazrul and Gandhi adorn the pandals.

Says he, "I have tried to turn the Puja site into an arts and crafts village where the artisans of Bengal would set up shop in little kiosks along the pathways. In keeping with the mood of celebrating the crafts of Bengal, 7500 lamps designed to resemble Diyas will shine in the grids of the pandals along the pathways." "There will be other manifestations which will bear the stamp of Bengal arts like Dokra, Kantha, Pata and Chitpur woodblock," Mr Basu, a product of the Government arts and crafts college, adds.

Rupchand Kundu, who worked as an art director for Tapan Sinha and Chidananda Dasgupta, has a penchant for creating innovative styles.

This is quite evident when one sees his designs for a pandal in Dum Dum in north Kolkata. The Durga, inspired by Buddhist images, is in meditation on a lotus, calm and serene. The pandal is decorated with the mosaic of thousands of pieces of coconnut shells.

Sanjit Ghosh, who has directed TV serials Poltibabaki, Pinochio, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and Panchatantra where he used animated puppets, has also used his ingenuity in bagging awards galore year after year. His evocations of the terracotta temples in a village in rampurhat on the bengal-bihar border and another pumice stone temple are sure winners.

"I compose the entire thing, from audio-visuals to the illumination. They are designed to raise the awareness of people about our architectural heritage and promote tourism. I also hold meetings with the priests to ensure that the rituals are carried out properly," he states. For Netaji Sporting Club in Lake Town in the northern fringes of the city, Mr Ghosh is recreating a Durga idol seen in an abstract form. The goddess is inside a cave temple where he fuses fantasy and reality. With plaster and gunny cloth and light and sound he is creating the manifestation of shakti with a dash of Tantra rites.

For a pandal in south Kolkata he has created the roofless temple of the 64 Yoginis in Bhubaneshwar.

For these art designers, who find themselves in dire straits in the Boribund Bengal film industry in Tollygunge, the Durga Puja has come as a manna from the heaven. This breed of designers with an eye for detail can conjure up a bucolic ambience amid the busiest of Kolkata neighbourhoods by employing mixed media and their own innovative spirit.

But if the set designers are laughing all the way to the bank, the traditional pandal decorators have been left high and dry. Pushed to the corner by the onslaught of clay cups, bangles and broken records and what not, theirs is a sad tale of gloom and deprivation. With business plummeting to an all time low, most decorators are at a loss to figure out how they can stay afloat. (UNI)

Arunachal Director’s films to be screened in London

ITANAGAR, Oct 8: The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, has invited filmmaker Moji Riba to screen two of his films at four venues in London from October 29.

The films "Between God And Me" and "Prayers For New Gods" would be screened at SOAS, London School of Economics, the Nehru Centre Indian High Commission and the British Museum, sources said.

The films are produced by the Centre for Cultural Research and Documentation (CCRD) and directed by Mr Riba, who is the CCRD’s executive director.

The CCRD under the Sammanoy Gut Cooperative Society Limited during the last few years has been involved intensively in the process of documenting the folklore and culture of the tribes living in Arunachal Pradesh, according to CCRD sources.

This is for first time that a filmmaker from Arunachal Pradesh has been invited abroad for screening films.

"Prayers for new gods" is an exploration of the indigenous religion of the tribal groups in the State, who have evolved for themselves a set of animistic beliefs and practices that represent a process of interpreting life and coming to terms with the difficult environment surrounding them. The 27-minute film begins with the celebration of Phung-Glin festival by the Miji tribe of West Jameng district, which symbolises an ancient meeting point of the opposite concepts of non-violent Buddhist thoughts and a system of offering sacrifices to appease spirits.

The film also attempts to understand the process of the entry of religions like Christianity and Hinduism. Tribal people, mainly women, adopted these organised forms of worship as they give an opportunity to leave behind the parameters of tradition for something more personal and beyond mere appeasement of spirits.

"Between God And Me", also of 27 minutes duration, portrays the context and relevance of the Nyibo (priest), the intermediary to communicate with the world of malevolent spirits and to offer sacrifices to appease them.

The priests are the only link between man and the supernatural, a concept which has undergone drastic changes with the onset of progress and modernity.

The film attempts to understand how the tribal people adapt to changes in society. The Nyibo then becomes a symbol of the transitional society and in the gradual erosion of this institution lies hidden a tale of traditional loss.

Mr Riba would arrive at London on October 24 from Milan, sources said adding that he would return on November two, after the screening at various venues followed by interaction with the audience. (UNI)

Mohd Fazal to take over as Maharashtra
Governor tomorrow

MUMBAI, Oct 8: Former civil servant and management expert Mohammed Fazal will take over as the next Governor of Maharashtra on Thursday.

Mr Fazal is an expert in business management, an able administrator and a visionary planner.

He will replace the acting Governor of the State and Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Justice C K Thakkar, who took over as the Governor of the State after P C Alexander resigned in July.

Mr Fazal will be sworn in by Justice Thakkar in the presence of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, his deputy Chhagan Bhujbal and his Cabinet colleagues.

Currently, Mr Fazal is the Governor of adjoining Goa.

Born in a well-known Zamindar family of Allahabad, Mr Fazal did his post-graduation from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Mr Fazal had a distinguished career both in the private and the public sector enterprises.

According to a Raj Bhavan communique here, he started his career in 1944 as a Group Officer in the war production department of the Government of India.

He joined the civil services in 1960 when the Government set up a new civil service cadre under the Ministry of Home Affairs. He resigned from the civil service in 1979.

During his stint in civil services, he served as Managing Director of several public sector enterprises and also served as Secretary, Industrial Development of the Government in 1977.

Mr Fazal was the seniormost member of the Planning Commission with the rank of a minister from April 1980 to January 1985 and was responsible for Industry, Railways, Minerals, Power, Coal, Petroleum, Transport, Shipping and Information and Broadcasting Centres.

During 1985-87, he was Executive Chairman of the Nav Bharat Parkar Drilling Co, a joint venture of an American and an Indian company.

He also held presidentship of several institutions like the institute of marketing and management, the Indian Institute of Office Management and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

He also chaired the National Management Board under the Ministry of Education.

He was a member of the joint Indo-US business committee and the Indo-Japan business committee, the release stated.

In 1976, he earned national award for the best marketing man of the year from the president. He was also a member of the Institute of Directors, UK for several years.

He was elected executive chairman of Hughes and Hughes Chem Ltd, an Indo-UK joint venture in December 1992 for a five-year term.

Mr Fazal was involved with a number of management, industrial and cultural organisations in the country and has written on economic and management issues.

He is also a member of the President’s Estate Polo Club, Delhi Gymkhana Club, India International Centre and United Services Institute. (UNI)

HC orders pension for dead man

KOILKATA, Oct 8: Annoyed over delay in payment of pension to a non-teaching employee of a village school, who died four years ago, the Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal Government to pay full pension to his widow till the end of this year.

Justice Barin Ghosh of high court in an order passed yesterday asked the State Government to pay full pension to Jyotsnamayee, widow of Parbati Kumar Das, till December 2002 while maintaining that she would be eligible for widow pension from January 2003 onward.

Das, a non-teaching employee of a Government aided school in Malihati village of Murshidabad district, retired from service in January 1995 and despite his best efforts did not get his pension till his death in October 1998.

The court also said in its order that if the Government failed to make payment by the end of the year then the rate of interest on the dues would be raised from 12 to 20 per cent while giving the option to realise the dues from Education Department employees responsible for the delay in payment of pension to Das.

According to the case record, Das filed his pension claim immediately after his retirement, but his case was delayed at the Murhidabad district inspector of school level forcing Das to move to the high court in March 1998.

But even an order to release the pension by the court at that time went unheeded by the district authorities as Das died.

Jyotsnamayee filed another petition before the high court in 2001 leading to the fresh order by the court in the presence of the district school inspector.

The bench said the Centre had issued the guidelines in this regard following the order of the Supreme Court, which had incorporated in its judgement the ten-point directives issued by the high court some years ago.

The Centre had said the transport department of the State Government would notify the time schedule, procedure and other statutory requirements regarding mandatory fitting of the speed Governors.

The Delhi Government counsel submitted that it had sought reports from four companies — Ashok Leyland, TELCO, Pricol and Siemens VDO — to suggest ways and technology about fitting of the device in buses.

She said the first three companies expressed inability to provide the technology, Delhi Transport Corporation had given approval for fitting of speed governors in its 100 CNG buses on expertiment basis.

"The DTC has reported that it has found some problem with the device," she said.

However, Siemens VDO’s counsel Rajiv Nayar said there was no technical problem with the device of the company and all the issues had been resolved by it with the DTC. (PTI)