PTI

• Prosecution in high-profile Ajit Dewani murder case suffers setback 

Mumbai, Apr 10: The prosecution in the high-profile Ajit Dewani murder case has suffered a setback with prime accused and a gunman of extradited gangster Abu Salem, Deepak Singh Jagannath Singh alias Deepu, escaping from jail in Uttar Pradesh, police sources said here on Sunday.

Deepak escaped from a Varanasi jail recently jeopardising the trial in a Mumbai court as he was the prime accused besides Salem, the sources told PTI.

He was taken to Varanasi on the Uttar Pradesh police's request, as he was wanted in a criminal case there.

The Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) court here had allowed the Uttar Pradesh police to take Deepak to Varanasi on a transfer warrant.

The Varanasi police had submitted a report regarding Deepak's escape to the MCOCA court here, following which designated judge Abhay Thipsay took a serious view of the incident and said he would hold an inquiry into it.Salem is accused of hatching a conspiracy to murder Dewani, former secretary to actor Manisha Koirala, after he refused to pay extortion money. Deepak is charged with murdering Dewani at the latter's office in 2001.

Salem was arrested in January this year after he was extradited from Portugal. Deepak was arrested last year.