Mumbai, June 13: Abu Salem, 1993 Mumbai Bomb Blasts accused, met Portuguese Embassy officials, recently. During the meeting, the deported gangster complained about a slew of things, which he was experiencing in his barrack at Taloja Jail in Maharashtra. Reportedly, it was there he complained of being forced to be a vegetarian.

As per a Mid-Day report, the Portuguese officials were on a visit to check Abu Salem, after the latter complained of a threat to his life. The meeting which went a little over two hours saw Salem’s lawyer Saba Qureshi, and Portugal’s consul Captain Somesh Batra, Inspector General – Prisons, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer, and Deputy Superintendent of Mumbai Police, Shivkumar Jain, were present at the meet.

Qureshi complained that the living condition in the jail is nothing but human rights violations. She said that Salem’s barrack didn’t have proper sunlight and his toilet is small too; which results in him being sick. Salem is living in isolation with no other inmates in the jail to interact also. She said that the jail authorities were giving excuses that there are guards there to accompany him.

Clarifying the incident, Jail SP Sadanand Gaikwad said that they couldn’t give him chicken. He said, “If a doctor asks us to provide eggs to a prisoner, we provide them. He can buy eggs in the canteen.” He also said that the barrack where Salem lives is of the same type where other prisoners are living. The barrack has an open roof, and there is enough room for sunlight and fresh air. Gaikwad signed off by saying, “His allegations were baseless.”

Salem’s lawyer also said that India had broken the extradition treaty by awarding Abu Salem with life-term imprisonment, whereas the government had assured that Salem would not be imprisoned more than 25 years.

Salem is a convicted criminal for conspiring and causing the Mumbai Blasts in 1993 that killed over 250 persons and injured more than 700 individuals. He was extradited from Portugal in the year 2005 and was given a life sentence by a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) court, last year. In the year 2015, he was also convicted by the court in a murder case of a Mumbai builder in 1995.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 13, 2018 08:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).