Abu Salem gets 7 yr jail in fake passport case

Judge MV Ramana Naidu had held the underworld don guilty under different sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for obtaining a passport under a fictitious name and address from Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.

CBI's senior public prosecutor TV Ramana said that Salem was found guilty on the charges under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 419 (cheating by personation), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the IPC.

Salem had allegedly procured the fake passport under the fictitious identity of Ramil Kamil Malik by submitting bogus documents, that included forged birth date, residential proof and name of father, to the Hyderabad Regional Passport Office, allegedly in connivance with some government officials and private persons in 2001.

In total, Salem obtained three passports - one for his wife, another for his girlfriend and starlet Monica Bedi, apart for himself.

The fake passport case was transferred to the central agency from Andhra Pradesh Police in October 2002 and a chargesheet was filed in 2004 against 10 accused. While seven of the total accused faced trial, two were acquitted, said Ramana.

The trial against the gangster began in Hyderabad in 2009.

With Salem's conviction, the number of accused convicted so far in the case has risen to five, including Bedi, whereas three accused are still absconding in the case.