Purulia Arms Drop Case: Why Denmark Turned Down India's Request to Extradite Niels Holck

New Delhi: A court in Denmark has rejected India's request for the extradition of a Danish national who is accused of being involved in a 1995 arms smuggling case, according to media reports.

Citing risk of rights' violation, the Danish court ruled that extraditing Niels Holck to India would violate Denmark's extradition act.

India has been seeking the extradition of Holck to face trial For several years, on suspicion of smuggling approximately four tonnes of weapons to a riot movement in West Bengal.

During a hearing at a Danish court, Holck had earlier admitted to being part of a group of seven individuals who smuggled weapons into Bengal aboard a Russian cargo plane on the night of December 17, 1995.

Notably, the Purulia Arms Drop was an illegal arms drop that happened on December 17, 1995 in Bengal's Purulia district.

The arms were dropped from an Antonov An-26 aircraft before being intercepted by an Indian Air Force plane.

However, five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen and an ex-Special Air Service officer were nabbed, while the organizer 'Kim Davy' alias Niels Christian managed to escape.

India first demanded Holck's extradition in 2002. Despite the agreement of the government, the process was stalled as two Danish courts rejected his extradition, saying he would risk torture or other inhumane treatment in India.

Previously, in June 2023, Denmark again looked into a 2016 Indian extradition request, saying that the requirements in the extradition act had been met.

(With ANI inputs)