A Danish court on Thursday (Aug 29) rejected New Delhi’s request to extradite one individual wanted in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case. Niels Holck, also known as Kim Peter Davy was allegedly behind the dropping of a cache of weapons in West Bengal’s Purulia district as a Latvian Antonov An-26 aircraft flew over Indian airspace on December 17, 1995. The weapons were meant for a rebel group in the eastern Indian state.
New Delhi has been making efforts for years to get Davy, a Danish national, extradited so that a trial can be initiated in India. But a Danish court rejected India’s request, saying handing him over to Indian authorities may violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
Anders Rechendorff, the public prosecutor, was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters that it was not confirmed whether the decision would be appealed.
Meanwhile, Davy’s attorneys argued that the guarantees given by India were inadequate.
“It’s been six years of negotiating the conditions between the public prosecutor and India. Now the court says that his safety can’t be guaranteed,” Jonas Christoffersen said.
Notably, Davy had previously admitted in a Danish court that he was aboard the plane which supplied the weapons to a village in West Bengal. He also acknowledged on record that the cache was meant for a rebel group named Ananda Marga.
More about Purulia arms drop case
As per reports, the massive weapon cache included hundreds of AK-47 rifles, anti-tank grenades, rocket launchers, and over 25,000 rounds of ammunition.
The weapons were to be supplied to Ananda Marga, a socio-spiritual organisation with a history of militancy.
As the plane dropped the cache in West Bengal, it was detected by an Indian Air Force plane. As the people on board the plane tried to escape, they were detained and put on trial.
But the main accused, Davy, is believed to have evaded authorities at the airport. He allegedly bribed airport officials and fled to Nepal and then back to his home country Denmark.
Later, Davy and the plane crew lead, Peter Bleach, alleged that India was aware of the delivery of weapons as it wanted to overthrow the communist government in the state.
As per some theories, Davy was a secret CIA operative and that’s why he was granted immunity by the Danish authorities.
(With inputs from agencies)
Vikrant Singh
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