The Journey of a history-sheeter Abu Salem who was born in 1969 in a lower-middle-class family from Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh state of India. He was a third among four brothers. His father was a lawyer by profession who was killed in a road accident. He started a small mechanic shop in his home town to support his family. He studied in a primary school called Azamgarh and left the village after completing his inter college. He moved to Delhi, where he worked as a taxi driver.
Who knew the fact a man who came to Mumbai in 1985 to deliver bread between Bandra 
and Andheri will also deliver arms for 1993 major Mumbai blast and become a history-sheeter gangster and hostage in the world terror activity just to earn his livelihood.
After 1985, Salem also worked at Andheri for a garment shop and later he became a real estate broker who operated from Arasa Market in Andheri West in 1987 and also this was his turning point to join underworld, said the sources.
The first case was registered against Salem at Andheri police station in 1988 for assaulting a colleague over a monetary issue, and in the meantime he married Samira Jumani, a girl from Jogeshwari, from whom he divorced later. He has two sons from her. He loved film and reportedly named his sons after Bollywood actors. His elder brother Abu Hatim, also known as “Chunchun Miyan”, owns a shop in his native place.
Salem started working with Dawood Ibrahim know as D-Company. Salem was the only person who supplied weapons and smuggled goods among the people who was involved 
into 1993 blast.
In 1992, Salem supplied the weapons to film actor Sanjay Dutt and played an active role in March 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts which killed over 250 people, left 700 injured and damaged property worth ₹270 million. In 1993, he left India and moved to Dubai when the police started rounding up suspects in serial blasts case. He had a business establishment in Dubai named Kings of Car Trading.
Salem was also promoted by Dawood to introduce a new strategy of hiring unemployed Muslim youths from his hometown Azamgarh to come to Mumbai, execute shoot-outs and return to Azamgarh the next day remaining untraced by the Mumbai police. Salem’s smooth talking skills helped him to manage the Bollywood deals and film financing for Dawood.
Initially he worked under Chhota Shakeel who is also a part of D-Company but later separated and started threatening film stars for extortion. It is believed that Salem was the mastermind behind threatening Bollywood film producers. After the assassination of music baron and film producer
Gulshan Kumar, Salem distanced himself from the D-company and began operating independently. In August 2013, Punjabi Singer Sukhwinder Singh Maan alias Sukha Delhi wala revealed that he would release a song composed by Abu Salem while lodged in Tihar Jail, in his next Music Album. The Music Album shall also feature many other celebrities like Rahul Mahajan and Vindu Dara Singh.
In 2000, he planned kidnapping Milton Plastics owner for ₹30 million. In January 2001, his men shot Ajit Diwani, personal secretary to film actress Manisha Koirala. In October 2001, four members of his gang shot down in Bandra before they could target film personalities Aamir Khan, Ashutosh Gowarikar and Jhamu Sughand. In July 2002, two shooters of Salem gang opened fire on film director Lawrence D’souza who survived. He also attempted to kill cine figures Rajiv Rai, Rakesh Roshan and Manmohan Shetty. He is involved in several murders, extortion and other cases.
Also Read: The Judgement Day of Abu Salem
Extradition, Arrest and trial
Abu Salem also got the support of Anees Ibrahim (Dawood’s brother) and he rose to prominence in the D-Company gang. Salem was convicted for the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and murder of music baron Gulshan Kumar in 1996 Indian actress Manisha’s secretary, a builder and more than 50 other cases.
Salem was arrested on 20 September 2002 along with Monica Bedi by the Interpol in Lisbon, Portugal. His satellite phone was 
tracked using GPS technology. Monica Bedi was a film actress who reportedly had relationship with him. In the month of February 2004, a Portugal court cleared his extradition to India to face trial in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.
Later in November 2005, Portuguese authorities handed him over to India on the assurance by the Government of India that the death penalty would not be handed out. A lower court in Portugal cancelled his extradition to India for violation of deportation rules by Indian authorities by instituting fresh cases against him that attracted the death penalty. In July 2012, the Portuguese Supreme Court of Justice questioned the legal right of Indian authorities to challenge the cancellation of extradition order.
When Salem was in Lisbon fighting India’s extradition attempt, the only proof that he was indeed Salem was provided by the fingerprint and photographs taken after his arrest in 1991. In March 2006, a special TADA court filed eight charges against him and his alleged associate Riaz Siddiqui for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. He stands accused of supplying weapons.
On 27 June 2013, Salem was shot by Devendra Jagtap, an accused person in the Shahid Azmi murder case inside Taloja Central Jail in neighbouring city of Navi Mumbai, the police said. Salem sustained injury to his hand as Jagtap fired one round.
Abu Salem was convicted in Pradeep Jain murder case on 16 February 2015. Jain, a city-based builder, was shot dead outside his Juhu bungalow on 7 March 1995.
After 24 year on Thursday, 16th June 2017 Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, and 4 others were convicted by a Special CBI court in Mumbai in connection with the 1993 Bombay blasts case.
Finally, 7 September 2017 was the Judgement Day of Abu Salem, the mastermind of Mumbai Bomb Blasts.
