The superintendent of Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai has claimed that 1993 Mumbai serial blasts accused Abu Salem is living a life of luxury inside the prison, where he gets home cooked food and even smuggles in chicken from KFC for the parties he throws for inmates.
Taloja Jail superintendent Hiralal Jadhav, whom Salem had accused of torturing him and inciting him to commit suicide, made the claims of Salem's lavish life in a five-page statement to the committee conducting an inquiry into Salem's allegations, Mid-Day reported.
In the statement, Jadhav alleged that Salem had an inmate who would do all his chores for him. "The inmate, identified as Raja Utta Lingam Nadar (inmate no. 339), has been washing clothes, serving food, making tea, sweeping his cell and cleaning utensils for the don," he said.
Salem is reported to have received home cooked food, which he shared with a few inmates, including Vishwanath Shetty who is serving sentence under MCOCA. Salem is also accused of briging KFC chicken after outings and throwing parties for other inmates.
"We have caught him bringing KFC chicken from outside for lavish parties. The food is shared among the inmates so he can remain in their good books and expand his network," a jail official said on the condition of anonymity.
Jadhav alleged in the statement that the 1993 Mumbai blasts accused had managed to get several facilities inside the prison, including warm water every morning. But, when Jadhav stopped all of that, he accused him of torture.
"Since I had stopped Salem from continuing with his illegitimate demands in prison, he made a series of allegations against me," Jadhav said, according to a Mid-Day report.
"When jail officials stopped Salem from enjoying this lifestyle, he threatened them with dire consequences. He even manhandled the chief medical officer, who had refused to help him get out of jail under the false pretext of medical check-ups," he added.
Salem, who is serving life term in Pradeep Jain murder case and also an accused in 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai, had accused Jadhav of torturing him to ensure that either he goes mad or commits suicide, according to a Mid-Day report.
