On the night of December 17, 1995 a Latvian aircraft dropped a large consignment of arms including several hundred AK - 47 rifles and more than a million rounds of ammunition over a large area in Jhalda, Ghatanga, Belamu, Maramu villages of Purulia district. Several days later, when the plane re-entered the Indian airspace, Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter aircrafts intercepted and forced it to land in Mumbai. The Indian Secret Service agencies alleged the arms dropping case. However, in reality no evidence was ever provided in support of these allegations. The court trial on the Purulia Arms dropping case has revealed that the Latvian plane has landed in Bombay's Sahar Airport following ATC dispatcher order caused by a misunderstanding. On the contrary to the allegations made by the Indian secret services, no involvement of any Indian Air Force fighters has ever been proved by the Indian officials in that case.
While the investigation on the arms dropping case in Purulia district of West Bengal could not reveal the true motive of the operation. The alleged motive behind the case remains shrouded in mystery and conjecture, it has been alleged that arms were intended for the socio-spiritual organization Ananda Marga (Sanskrit for "The Path of Bliss"). Further, the claim had been disputed by the claims of the prime accused in the case 'Kim Davy' that the central government itself was behind the arms drop to counter the CPI(M) cadres in West Bengal.
An Indian court in 1997 determined that the Ananda Marga group was indeed the intended recipient of the guns and ammunition dropped from the Latvian Antonov. Based on the testimony by the pilots of the aircraft, along with other evidence such as a photograph of the Ananda Marga headquarters found on the aircraft, the Judge ruled: "as per the materials available I hold that it has been established from the materials on record that the places where the arms were targeted to be dropped were of Anandamargies and precisely three storied white building was the target point and at that target point the arms were tried to be dropped from a flying aircraft and the aircraft has been pin pointed as per the evidence and materials on record." However, despite so many years passing in investigations, many details of the incident are wrapped in mystery, and there has been considerable speculation as to the real purpose and modality of the operation.
The crew of the aircraft consisted of five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen and an ex Special Air Service operative turned mercenary who was based in Yorkshire and involved in arms dealing. They were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment while alleged kingpin Niels Christian Nielsen (aka Kim Peter Davy), a Danish citizen and member of the Ananda Marga group, escaped. Later, an Interpol red notice was issued against him. Following the intervention of Russian authorities, the Latvian crew (who gained Russian citizenship while in Indian custody) were later pardoned and released in 2000. An appeal has been submitted by the pilots lawyer before the Calcutta High Court in March 2000 challenging the trial results and the judgement but it is still pending. Peter Bleach, too, was released on 4 February 2004, via a presidential pardon, allegedly due to persistent pressure from the British Government. In 2007 Kim Davy was traced by Denmark authorities and on April 9, 2010 Danish government decided to extradite Kim Davy to India but Danish authorities failed to successfully defend their decision in the Danish high court. Further, Danish authorities decided not to appeal the high court judgement in the Supreme Court. Hence the extradition could not take place.
Read more on the Recent development on Purulia Arms Dropping Case
Information Source: Wikipedia
While the investigation on the arms dropping case in Purulia district of West Bengal could not reveal the true motive of the operation. The alleged motive behind the case remains shrouded in mystery and conjecture, it has been alleged that arms were intended for the socio-spiritual organization Ananda Marga (Sanskrit for "The Path of Bliss"). Further, the claim had been disputed by the claims of the prime accused in the case 'Kim Davy' that the central government itself was behind the arms drop to counter the CPI(M) cadres in West Bengal.
An Indian court in 1997 determined that the Ananda Marga group was indeed the intended recipient of the guns and ammunition dropped from the Latvian Antonov. Based on the testimony by the pilots of the aircraft, along with other evidence such as a photograph of the Ananda Marga headquarters found on the aircraft, the Judge ruled: "as per the materials available I hold that it has been established from the materials on record that the places where the arms were targeted to be dropped were of Anandamargies and precisely three storied white building was the target point and at that target point the arms were tried to be dropped from a flying aircraft and the aircraft has been pin pointed as per the evidence and materials on record." However, despite so many years passing in investigations, many details of the incident are wrapped in mystery, and there has been considerable speculation as to the real purpose and modality of the operation.
The crew of the aircraft consisted of five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen and an ex Special Air Service operative turned mercenary who was based in Yorkshire and involved in arms dealing. They were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment while alleged kingpin Niels Christian Nielsen (aka Kim Peter Davy), a Danish citizen and member of the Ananda Marga group, escaped. Later, an Interpol red notice was issued against him. Following the intervention of Russian authorities, the Latvian crew (who gained Russian citizenship while in Indian custody) were later pardoned and released in 2000. An appeal has been submitted by the pilots lawyer before the Calcutta High Court in March 2000 challenging the trial results and the judgement but it is still pending. Peter Bleach, too, was released on 4 February 2004, via a presidential pardon, allegedly due to persistent pressure from the British Government. In 2007 Kim Davy was traced by Denmark authorities and on April 9, 2010 Danish government decided to extradite Kim Davy to India but Danish authorities failed to successfully defend their decision in the Danish high court. Further, Danish authorities decided not to appeal the high court judgement in the Supreme Court. Hence the extradition could not take place.
Read more on the Recent development on Purulia Arms Dropping Case
Information Source: Wikipedia
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