Denmark hints at extraditing Purulia arms drop mastermind to India - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Interpol has informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that the Denmark authorities have decided to extradite Purulia arms drop case mastermind Kim Davy aka Neils Holck to India. In October 2002, the CBI had requested for Davy's extradition. After prolonged negotiations through diplomatic channels on fulfilling certain conditions to pave way for his extradition, present Danish authorities have decided to extradite him to India. According to CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal, the Interpol would facilitate the extradition of Davy to India after receipt of documents formally from the Danish authorities though diplomatic channels. The CBI accused Davy as the person behind arms drop near Anand Marg ashram in West Bengal's Purulia District. On April 9, the Danish Police apprehended Davy. The CBI said Davy has demanded that the legality of the decision should be tried by the Danish courts. The CBI also accused Davy for conspiring to procure a huge quantity of arms and ammunition and to traffic it illegally into Indian territory for the purpose of waging war against India. Two Bulgarian Government owned factories supplied the arms and ammunition. In course of investigation the CBI had revealed that the aircraft AN-26 having call sign YLLDB had flown over the sky at West Bengal's Jhalda Police Station on the night of 17 and 18 December 1995, while it was coming from Varanasi to Calcutta and dropped huge quantity of arms and ammunition. The immigration authorities at the Sahara International Airport in Mumbai, where it was forcefully landed on 22 December 1995, detained the crewmembers of the aircraft-- Peter Bleach and five other Latavian citizens-- Alexender Klichin, Igor Moskvitine, Oleg Gaidach, Evgueni Antimenko and Igor Timmerman. Devy who was said to be in the aircraft managed to escape from the airport. The investigators recovered several articles such as arms, ammunition, laptop and brief case of Devy, G.P.S. flight data recorder, Cockpit Voice Recorder, Velocity height gravity recorder from the aircraft. On conclusion of trial, all the six accused persons were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 25,000/- each under section 121A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and for violating Explosives Substances Act, 1908.