| Newspapers across the country treated the extradition of gangster Abu Salem and his starlet wife Monica Bedi in much the same way "" top billing on page one with pictures splashed across, and recap stories on the Mumbai blasts and his role in it, and related ones on those who could get into trouble once Salem spilt all the beans "" people like actor Sanjay Dutt, for instance. |
| In the north, Hindi newspaper Punjab Kesri had an interesting story on how the CBI was being restrained from carrying on a full-fledged investigation to uncover all those associated with Salem during his rise to a dreaded gangster, including politicians and Bollywood personalities, among others. Catch the small fish, and leave the crocodiles, is the rough English translation of the story's strapline in Hindi. The paper concluded by saying the whole exercise was basically going to be a "lipapoti" or a whitewash job. Apart from the usual news stories covering the arrest and the interrogation-leaks, Dainik Bhaskar had a story with a box on the supposed wealth amassed by Salem ( Don ki Daulat, or the Don's Wealth was the headline) through different crimes "" the total wealth, the story said, was Rs 1,000 crore. |
| All the three major Kannada newspapers "" Praja Vani, Kannada Prabha and Vijaya Karnataka "" led with the Salem extradition with exhaustive details of how the CBI ultimately managed to get him to India. The lead stories were followed up with human interest copies on the Mumbai blasts and its survivors. Articles ranging from two-five columns discussed in depth the implications of this arrest and how effectively and decisively CBI should deal with this case. All the newspapers had lead edits on this development and urged that this prize catch be dealt with properly, and hoped there would not be yet another slip between the cup and lip. Kannada Prabha also had a detailed report on Monica Bedi being dispatched to Hyderabad under the passport forgery case. In addition to this, the arrest of the terrorist who masterminded the serial blast in Delhi on the eve of Diwali was the second story of the day. |
| There was virtually no distinction between English and Marathi papers in Mumbai when it came to coverage of the arrest of underworld don Abu Salem and his starlet wife Monica Bedi. Loksatta, Maharashtra Times and Sakal from the Marathi stable and the English papers led by Times of India, DNA, Hindustan Times and Mid-Day explored every possible angle to the Salem story. Newspapers discussed threadbare the impact of Salem's arrest on Bollywood and the trouble it might create for Priya Dutt, the Congress candidate from Mumbai North-West Parliamentary constituency who is also Sanjay Dutt's sister. |
| Salem's alleged confession about his role in the Mumbai blasts of 1993 and the court's gag order on CBI were also prominently displayed on front pages of Mumbai papers. Going beyond news reportage, all prominent Marathi newspapers wrote editorials on Salem's arrest and its impact. |
| The arrest of the mastermind behind the pre-Diwali Delhi bomb blast, Tariq Ahmad Dar, in contrast, hardly found any place in regional press while the English newspapers chose to bury the story inside in their Mumbai editions. |
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