Purulia case -- Govt examining remission of life term for Bleach
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JAN 1: Government is examining a request for remission of life sentence awarded to Peter Bleach, a key accused in the Purulia arms drop case, a Union Home Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

"A request has been received for remission of sentence awarded to Bleach and this is under examination," he said.

Bleach, a British national serving life term in Kolkata's Presidency Jail, is the only convicted accused who is still undergoing his sentence, after President K R Narayanan last July remitted the sentence of the five co-accused Latvian crew members of the AN-26 aircraft which dropped arms and ammunition.

The request for remission of Bleach's sentence has been received from the British government by the Ministry of External Affairs, which is being examined at the inter-ministerial level, official sources said.

An appeal petititon of Bleach is pending before the High Court in Kolkata.

Of the 14 accused persons chargesheeted by CBI, seven were still absconding while seven others faced trial.

After completion of trial, five Latvians and Bleach were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, while seventh accused Vinay Kumar Singh, an Indian national, was not found guilty by the court.

On the intervening night of December 17-18, 1995, a huge catche of sophisticated arms and ammunition were dropped over some villages under Jhalda police station of Purulia district of West Bengal by an AN-26 aircraft.

The dropping raised an outcry about lax security forcing the security and intelligence agencies to launch a major hunt for the culprits.

The act of the accused was tantamount to waging or attempting to wage a war against the Government.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.