Germany wants ’contract killer’ extradited

Polish national accused of killing top businessman in Berlin on November 3

Germany wants 'contract killer' extradited

Polish national accused of killing top businessman in Berlin on November 3

It took three years of painstaking efforts by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to overcome the diplomatic complexities of Indo-Portugal ties and legal wrangles to get one of India's most wanted Abu Salem extradited.

Adam Pjort Mancic, according to German government, is a contract killer who was hired to eliminate some highly prized targets there. An Interpol notice was issued against Mancic and a hunt was launched.

Goa police arrested Mancic in April last year. The Goa police had said then that Adam was frequently changing base in Goa. The police had said that Mancic arrived in Goa in January and stayed at Arambol. He then shifted to Canacona and later moved to Ashvem. A week before he was arrested, Mancic reached Chopdem and was finally arrested from a German national's house in Pernem.

Currently behind bars in the high walled corridors of Delhi's Tihar jail, Polish resident Adam's case of extradition proceedings will be heard on Friday at a Delhi court.

What is interesting to note is that proceedings are going on the basis of an arrest warrant. "A simple arrest warrant is not enough to get a person extradited. The German police have no evidence nor have they given Indian government any papers pointing to the alleged crime of Adam," said Vikas Gupta, counsel for Mancic.
According to the police, Mancic had shot dead a German businessman in Berlin on November 3 and then fled to India.

"Adam came to know about the murder of a high profile man in Germany. He is now convinced that once he goes to Germany he will also be murdered. A person who could prove Mancic's alibi that he was not at the scene of the crime on November 3 (the day of the businessman's murder) has also been murdered in Germany," Gupta added.

But, the German police had claimed that Mancic entered Germany in October and eliminated the businessman, for which he was paid 25,000 euros.

"The government had to export voluminous documents to Portugal to get underworld don Abu Salem extradited. I hope the court considers the fact that there is no document to prove Mancic guilty and save an innocent man from being killed in Germany," Gupta said.

The case
According to reports in German newspapers, Mancic murdered businessman Friedhelm Sodenkamp on November 3 at around 7.23 pm in Berlin. The German police investigations had revealed that one person, Torsten Lesting, offered him 25,000 euros to kill Sodenkamp. Mancic shot dead the businessman at 7.23 pm on November 3. He fired three shots at the businessman with a pistol.

How India got Salem
Salem underwent plastic surgery, but Indian sleuths knew his mobile phone number and were tracking him.

When they discovered he had shifted to the United States, they alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

When the FBI found out that Salem was entering Lisbon with the help of fake papers, they alerted the Portuguese authorities.

Though he had changed his looks, the Indian authorities had taken Salem's fingerprints when he was arrested in Mumbai. This led to his identification.

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