MUMBAI: Underworld don Abu Salem on Wednesday retracted his statement confessing to the murder of Ajit Dewani, a secretary to actor Manisha Koirala.Salem told a special MCOCA court that he had been forced to give a confessional statement and that it was not voluntary, as was being claimed by police. The court took Salem's statement on record. MCOCA judge, Abhay Thipsay, remanded Salem and his alleged aide Shah Alam to judicial custody till March 1 in the Dewani murder case.
Salem is accused of plotting Dewani's murder after he refused to give in to extortion demands.
Salem is charged with planning the murder of Dewani through his men while Alam faces allegations of playing the role of a conduit between Salem and the killers. Alam was arrested a fortnight ago, while Salem was taken into custody in November 2005. In another development, Shah Alam confessed his role in the Dewani murder case before a magistrate on Tuesday.