30 August,2024 10:34 AM IST | Copenhagen | ANI
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A Danish court on Thursday rejected the extradition request from India of a Danish national accused of being involved in a 1995 arms smuggling case, according to a report by Reuters. For several years, India has been seeking the extradition of Niels Holck to face trial on suspicion of smuggling approximately four tonnes of weapons to a riot movement in West Bengal.
The court ruled that sending Holck to India would violate Denmark's extradition act due to a risk that he would be subjected to treatment in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to Reuters. Previously, Holck had confessed to a Danish court to being part of a group of seven individuals who smuggled weapons into West Bengal aboard a Russian cargo plane on the night of December 17, 1995.
Notably, the Purulia Arms Drop was an illegal arms drop that happened on December 17, 1995 in the Purulia district of West Bengal. The arms were dropped from an Antonov An-26 aircraft before being intercepted by an Indian Air Force aircraft. Five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen and an ex-Special Air Service officer were arrested, while the organizer 'Kim Davy' alias Niels Christian managed to escape.
India first asked Denmark to extradite Holck in 2002. The government agreed, but two Danish courts rejected his extradition, saying he would risk torture or other inhumane treatment in India. In June 2023, Denmark again looked into a 2016 Indian extradition request, saying that the requirements in the extradition act had been met.
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