Purulia arms dropping accused may be extradited to India

India's News.Net
Thursday 26th April, 2007 (IANS)

The main accused in the 1995 Purulia arms dropping case may finally be extradited from Denmark to India.

The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday decided to assure the government of Denmark that it would abide by international covenants and the treaty with Denmark, which guarantees that the man - Niels Holck Neilson alias Kim Davy - extradited from Denmark is not handed down death sentence.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi informed newsmen after the cabinet meeting that this decision will help the Denmark government agree to India's request pending with Denmark to hand over Davy to India for standing trial in the Purulia arms drop case.

Kim Davy is a key suspect and is one of the six accused in the case.

His other accomplices namely British arms runner Peter Bleach and five Latvian aircrew were jailed for life in 2000. They were later allowed to go to their respective countries.

Davy had vanished from the Mumbai airport where the arms runners were forced to land Dec 21, 1995.

When the air traffic controllers asked the AN-26 flying Davy and his men, to land in Mumbai, he burnt all his papers, said the investigators then.

Dasmunsi said: 'The extradition of Neilson will be a big achievement for India and the present government. It will establish India's serious concern to punish terrorists and send across a message to other terrorists as well.'

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