Abu Salem, Monica Bedi sent to jail

Mumbai underworld don Abu Salem and his girl friend Monica Bedi have been awarded jail terms by a Portuguese court after they were found guilty of entering the country on forged documents. The verdict could give a boost to the CBI's efforts to secure Salem's extradition.

An accused in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case, Salem was arrested along with Bedi and two others on September 20, 2002 in Lisbon.

Also Read Hurdle in Monica Bedi's extradition cleared

The court sentenced him to three years for entering Portugal on forged documents, two years for causing injury to a cop and resisting his arrest and one year for perjury. However, the judge later consolidated the jail term to four-and-a-half years as he had been in jail since his arrest, CBI sources in Delhi said.

Bedi was sentenced to two years imprisonment for entering the country on forged documents and continuing to use the same for her stay in Portugal.

The sentences were handed to the duo by a sessions court in Lisbon.

During the trial, Salem had said that he had entered Portugal on fake documents while running away from his Indian mafia adversaries who had been chasing him ever since he parted ways with them.

Salem denied causing any harm to the Portuguese policeman. However, Saleem Haider, who was arrested along with him, had told the court that Salem had assaulted the cop.

This led to another charge of perjury against Salem.

The Portuguese government has dropped one of the charges against Salem and Bedi -- of marrying a local girl and a man respectively to get a resident permit.