Facing criticism for the goof-up in handling the extradition from Denmark of Kim Davy, main accused in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case, the Central Bureau of Investigation, which had sent its team to Copenhagen with an expired arrest warrant, has dispatched a valid arrest warrant against him.
A two-member CBI team, which has been camping in Copenhagen since May 16 to assist the authorities in the extradition proceedings before a court there, was told by Kim Davy's counsel during the proceedings that the warrant had expired in January. It was issued by a special CBI court in Kolkata last year.
The CBI team sought a fresh warrant from the Kolkata court.
Official sources here said the fresh warrant was scanned and a copy of it was sent to the team. The agency also sent the original warrant.
Though India is not a party to the case in the Danish court, the CBI team's role is limited to helping the prosecutors there with the necessary material evidence against Kim Davy. A five-member Bench of the Denmark court is hearing the plea of the Denmark government opposing a lower court order against the extradition of Kim Davy.
“All documents are in order with the CBI team,” CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said on Thursday.
Kim Davy and one of the convicted persons in the case, Peter Bleach, had alleged that the arms drop operation was planned by the Indian government and its intelligence agencies to destabilise the Left Front government in West Bengal.
Denies allegation
The government denied the allegation, saying it was aimed at misleading the prosecuting agency and the court in Denmark, which were seized of Kim Davy's extradition.
The CBI registered the case on December 28, 1995, after arms, including AK-47 assault rifles, anti-tank grenades and other weapons were dropped from a foreign plane on the fields of West Bengal's Purulia district on the night of December 17, 1995.
Red Corner Notice
At the request of the CBI, an Interpol Red Corner Notice was issued against Kim Davy in 1996. Since he was traced to Denmark in 2001, India has been trying to extradite him, though the two countries do not have an extradition treaty.
