1993 blasts convict Abu Salem seeks 14-day emergency parole to attend brother’s last rites

Gangster Abu Salem seeks 14 days of emergency parole to attend his brother's funeral, claiming unfair treatment and arguing he deserves regular parole.

MUMBAI: Gangster Abu Salem Abdul Qayyum Ansari, one of the convicts in the March 1993 Bombay serial blasts case, has moved the Bombay High Court, seeking 14 days of emergency parole to attend the final rites of his brother, who died on November 14, 2025.

1993 blasts convict Abu Salem seeks 14-day emergency parole to attend brother’s last rites

The 1993 Bombay bombings was a series of 12 terrorist bombings in Bombay (now Mumbai) on March 12, 1993. The single-day attacks resulted in 257 fatalities and 1,400 injuries.

Salem, 64, currently lodged at Nashik Central Prison, stated in his petition that he had earlier applied for regular parole when his brother, Abu Hakim Ansari, was unwell for nearly three months. However, the application allegedly remained pending, and his brother passed away before any decision was taken.

Claiming that the delay was “purposeful” and intended to deny him parole, Salem said he again approached prison authorities after receiving news of the death, seeking emergency parole to attend the last rites, 40th day prayers, Quran Khwani and other religious ceremonies, and to offer condolences to family members. The application was rejected on November 20 on the ground that the surety proposed by him was not proper, following which he approached the additional director general of police.

On December 5, the deputy inspector general of prisons directed the jail authorities to grant Salem a two-day parole with an escort party, with strict conditions that he should not meet anyone or consume outside food. Challenging this order, Salem moved the high court through advocate Farhana Shah, contending that he is unable to bear the escort charges, which would run into lakhs of rupees, as he has been incarcerated for decades and has no source of income.

He further submitted that he has respectable sureties willing to stand guarantee for him and escort him until he surrenders back to prison. In his petition filed on December 18, Salem claimed that there is no adverse conduct report against him during his incarceration and that he therefore deserves to be released on regular parole.

Expressing “shock” over what he described as differential treatment because of his name, Salem argued that as per remission calculations, he has already completed more than 25 years in custody, which he said is the effective term of his sentence. He urged the court to consider his plea “leniently and on humanitarian grounds”, adding that there are no findings against him of planting bombs or participating in conspiratorial meetings.

“I undertake not to commit any breach of the order if my petition is considered on humanitarian grounds,” Salem said.

A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Shyam Chandak has posted the petition for further hearing next week.