The case in question relates to charges of rioting and preventing public servants from discharging their duty, which was registered by the local police after the ship's crew members allegedly tried to prevent off-loading of the objectionable cargo on July 5. Later, the police also filed a charge-sheet against the crew members in a local court.

While Customs officers remained inaccessible, District Superintendent of Police A K Singh confirmed that he had received a letter from Customs seeking withdrawal of the case. He said he had sought directions from the State Government in the matter.

Last week, the Customs had, in a surprise development, told a local court that they did not want to prosecute the ship's master Tae Min-hun and chief officer Kim Sol-ik. The court had then freed the North Koreans, who later joined their colleagues on the ship, now anchored in Kandla harbour.

Curiously, the Customs gave no reasons for their action which came on the day the North Koreans, who had been arrested under the Arms Act, completed two months in judicial custody. Also, the Customs application, signed by Commissioner Prem Raj, was not in the standard format used for such purposes.

The applications just said, ``...it has been decided not to launch any proceedings by filing a complaint against them''. In the standard format, on the other hand, a decision not to launch proceedings is always linked with lack of evidence.

Customs sources said they had prepared a charge-sheet, in consultation with legal experts as well as Ministries of Defence and External Affairs, to prosecute the North Koreans. But before they could file it in the court, they received a directive from New Delhi not to go ahead with it.

While details of the aborted charge-sheet could not be known, the production memo which the Customs had filed in court at the time of arrest of the North Koreans says the ship carried ``arms and ammunition'', as defined under the Arms Act, for Pakistan.

According to the memo, the cargo, which was declared as machine and water refining equipment, was actually ``a technology transfer for surface-to- surface missile programme which could have jeopardised the security of the Republic of India.'' It said the Maltese company, for which the equipment was supposedly meant, did not exist.

Further, examination of the cargo with the help of experts ``appears to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the contents of the wooden and metal boxes (on the ship) were parts and machines for manufacturing missiles, along with documents, notes and literature concerning missile design and technology in Korean language''.