Jailed Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who was granted 14 days’ furlough by the Maharashtra prison authorities late on Tuesday, has been released from the Yerwada Central Jail in Pune, officials said on Wednesday.
Prison authorities said that the furlough would enable Mr. Dutt to spend Christmas and New Year with his family in Mumbai. The actor departed for Mumbai in the afternoon.
Mr. Dutt, who is serving a five-year sentence for illegal possession and destruction of an AK-56 rifle before the 1993 Mumbai blasts, had applied for leave in November this year.
A 14-day furlough can be extended for another two weeks and with strong reason, can even be stretched for 120 days. The initial two-week furlough, available annually, is counted as part of the prison term.
Earlier, the actor had taken a furlough twice, first in November 2013 on medical grounds for 28 days, followed by a leave of similar duration in January this year to tend to his ailing wife Manyata. The latter leave had sparked massive protests in Pune with protestors accusing jail authorities of being partial towards the celebrity.
