Mumbai: Gangster Abu Salem seeks emergency parole to visit grieving family in Azamgarh, kicks off row

Mumbai: Jailed gangster Abu Salem has kicked off a sought emergency parole to meet his family after the death of his elder brother. He has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court towards this end. Abu Salem's elder brother, Abu Hakim Ansari, passed away in Azamgarh on November 14, 2025.

Why the controversy?

Amidst the controversy regarding the repeated paroles granted to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim, underworld don Abu Salem has also filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking emergency parole. Ram Rahim is serving a double sentence of 20 years and life imprisonment in rape and murder cases. He has been granted parole for the 15th time in eight years. Abu Salem, on the other hand, is convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and the murder of a builder. The gangster has sought emergency parole to meet his family and perform the last rites after the death of his elder brother.

He has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, seeking permission to travel to Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh). Salem's elder brother, Abu Hakim Ansari, passed away on November 14, 2025. Salem described him as a father figure. Abu Salem has sought emergency parole after his elder brother's death to attend the 40th-day rituals, Quran recitation, offer prayers at the graveyard, and meet his family. 
During the hearing, a division bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shyam C. Chandak observed that according to Muslim customs, the 40-day period after the funeral had already been completed. Advocate Farhana Shah, representing Salem, argued that the petition was filed on time, but it could not be heard due to the winter vacation. 

What did Abu Salem say in his petition?

In his petition, Abu Salem stated that his elder brother, Abu Hakim Ansari, had been seriously ill for the past three months, and he had requested the jail superintendent to expedite the regular parole process so that he could meet his brother while he was still alive. However, his application remained pending, and unfortunately, his elder brother passed away at their ancestral home in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. In the petition, Salem stated, "After my brother's death, I applied to the jail authorities for emergency parole to attend the religious ceremonies at the graveyard, the 40th-day prayers, Quran recitation, and other religious rituals, and to console all the members of my brother's family, especially the women, and my own family members. However, this application was also rejected."

Abu Salem filed an appeal with the ADGP on December 1 and was granted him permission to travel with an escort party. However, Salem could not bear the burden of the escort expenses, which amounted to lakhs of rupees. The DIG Prisons also rejected his application because no guarantor could be found, and Salem was considered a flight risk. Abu Salem claims that his younger brother was supposed to be his guarantor, but he is uneducated, and due to some misunderstanding, he could not come forward to provide the guarantee. He stated that two lawyers are willing to act as his guarantors. He told the court that he had previously received parole in 2009 and 2011 upon the deaths of his mother and aunt, and he had surrendered to the jail authorities on time on both occasions.

Why is Abu Salem in jail?

Abu Salem has been imprisoned in Nashik Central Jail since 2005. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in two cases. The first was the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, which killed 257 people and injured 1400, and the second was the 1995 murder of builder Pradeep Jain. However, following the extradition treaty with Portugal, from where he was extradited in 2005, his sentence was commuted to 25 years of imprisonment. Abu Salem filed a petition last year seeking clarification on when his 25-year prison sentence would be completed. That petition is yet to be heard.