Monica: Now to President

New Delhi, Nov. 9: Underworld don Abu Salem?s girlfriend Monica Bedi, facing an extradition trial in Portugal, has written to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam asking for pardon.

Monica has sought cancellation of all criminal proceedings initiated against her by the CBI and asked for a ?second chance? in the handwritten letter received by the President?s secretariat recently. She has apologised for forging her passport in Hyderabad.

The President?s secretariat said the letter had been sent to the home secretary and the foreign secretary.

A similar letter was received by the Prime Minister?s Office.

The CBI has said that despite her appeals, it would spare no effort to get her extradited. Monica, who completed her two-year sentence for using forged documents in Portugal on September 17, continues to be in judicial custody pending the extradition case.

The actor has contended that Abu Salem forced her to secure a forged passport and clarified that she had not used it while going out of India or during her stay in Dubai.

Monica said the CBI would question her in connection with the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, of which she had no knowledge. ?When the blasts took place, I was merely 16 years and was staying in Norway. My association with Salem was very limited and it continued to be like that even when we were caught in Portugal.?

But CBI officials said investigators were more interested in getting Monica to throw light on Salem and his activities. As someone who has been staying with the don, she would be able to offer an insight into his functioning that could help enforcement agencies.

In her letters, Monica said she had made a mistake. ?All I require is a second chance,? adding that ?me and my family is already paying a heavy price for my association with Salem.?

The CBI had sought Monica?s extradition for obtaining a fake travel document in the name of Sanha Kamal Mallick from Hyderabad. She was caught in Portugal with the passport and detained on 2002, along with Salem and two others.