Nov. 26: Abu Salem’s hyped confession is probably not strong enough. Hinting at this, CBI director U.S. Misra today said “the stage has not yet come” to make the don an approver in the Bombay blasts case.

But he indicated the CBI may consider this later, which could mean it will try to get another confessional statement from Salem.

Mumbai police’s anti-terrorist squad, probing the Pradeep Jain murder, said it would make Salem undergo “scientific” (probably “lie-detector”) tests because there wasn’t enough time for conventional questioning to yield results. The police have contacted forensic laboratories in Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

A Bhopal court today issued a fresh production warrant against Monica Bedi seeking her appearance on December 5. She has not been brought from Hyderabad so far as enough train seats were not available.