Purulia arms case: Davy can't be extradited

Danish citizen Kim Davy cannot be extradited to India to face trial for his alleged involvement in the sensational dropping of arms in Purulia in 1995 with the High Court in Denmark on Thursday rejecting a plea by the government there.

The plea by the Danish government to allow 49-year-old Davy, who is also known as Niels Holck, to be extradited in the Purulia case was dismissed on the ground he would  risk "torture or other inhuman treatment" in India.

A Central Bureau of Investigation spokesperson quoting initial reports from Denmark said the "plea has been denied on the grounds of jail conditions and human rights issues which is a subject outside the purview of the investigation agency."

(With inputs from PTI)

The five-judge bench of Denmark High court upheld the decision of a lower court which had rejected Danish government's move to allow CBI's request for extradition of Davy after getting a number of sovereign assurances from India including that no death penalty would be imposed on him and permission to serve imprisonment, if decided by court, in Denmark prisons.

The Danish government had appealed against the order of the lower court before the High Court which had reserved its decision. The CBI spokesperson said the copy of the judgement was awaited.

"There has been no adverse comments about the CBI investigations.Once the judgement is received, the CBI will request the Ministry of Justice, Denmark government, through diplomatic channels, to appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court of Denmark," the spokesperson said.

Davy is wanted by CBI in connection with the arms drop case when an AN-26 aircraft dropped arms and ammunition in Purulia district in the state of West Bengal in India on December 17, 1995. The consignment had hundreds of AK-47 rifles, pistols, anti-tank grenades, rocket launchers and over 25,000 rounds of ammunition.

"We are convinced that the accused Niels Christan Nielsen alias Kim Davy is main conspirator and executer of this crime and we will make all possible efforts to get him," the spokesperson said.

In an official release on Wednesday, the CBI spokesperson had said that Davy had not been contesting evidence or the investigation done by CBI and had on several occasions, largely admitted his role in Purulia arms drop case in the Danish court as also in the media, including Indian media.

"His arguments in courts focussed mainly on alleged poor prison conditions and human rights issues in India," CBI had said. Since the Danish government is defending its decision, CBI is not a party in the case but a team was sent to "assist" the prosecution with facts and Indian laws.

The crew of the aircraft consisted of five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen, were arrested while Davy managed to escape. According to British national Peter Bleach, one of the accused, Davy led the operation and took a cargo plane took from Gatwick Airport in London with four tonnes of weapons undetected.

After nearly crashing in Isfahan in Iran they landed in at Karachi in Pakistan from where they entered India via Varanasi. The crew of the aircraft were released in 2000 after requests from the Russian authorities while Bleach was given a Presidential pardon on 4 February, 2004, following requests by the United Kingdom government.