Salem's narco-analysis opens a can of worms

DON UNDER SCRUTINY: Salem underwent a narco-analysis test in Bangalore.

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Pune/ Mumbai: The tape of gangster Abu Salem undergoing a narco-analysis test at the Forensic Sciences laboratory in Bangalore which was aired on a news channel on Thursday may have created ripples in the film industry but the legal fraternity is not impressed.

Though Salem blurted out the details of the connections between Bollywood and the underworld but this hasn't exactly impressed Salem's lawyers who say the leaked tapes point to the problems in the police establishment.

"We will not be filing a case against it but it's a grave problem if these tapes keep getting leaked the police need to find out. There should not be any legal action. Why should we take legal action if it has leaked out?" Owais Siddiqui, Salem's lawyer, said.

Sources in the Mumbai police were unwilling to comment on camera but say that the tapes were not made public by them but were possibly leaked from the lab.

The information from the narco tests has already been used to further various investigations including the Ajit Dewani murder case.

But former police officers say the tapes have brought out several points, which should have been investigated by the police and is ground enough for some Bollywood stars to be questioned.

"The havala transactions of Subhash Ghai should have been investigated and the police should question Manisha Koirala and perhaps reopen the case for re-investigation. With reference to Manisha Koirala what has been stated by Abu Salem requires further corroboration and this can happen only when there is an intensive and all-round open investigation into the matter," YP Singh, a former Indian Police Service officer, said.

And though the tapes may have created quite a sensation it seems unlikely that the recordings will in anyway affect Salem's trial.

(With inputs from Shilpa Dhamija, Karn Kowshik and Ruksh Chatterji)