Govt admits prior knowledge of Purulia arms dropping

“As a measure of abundant caution, Prakash wrote to the state governments of West Bengal and Bihar. He sent the letter by registered post in accordance with existing instructions for handling of secret and top secret matters,” he said.

Therefore, Prakash cannot be held responsible for any reported lapse in this regard, Nayak said in an affidavit filed before the court. The affidavit was filed on behalf of the Home Ministry as well as the CBI.

A division bench of Justice Anil Dev Singh and O P Dwivedi will now hear the matter on January 30.

According to a public interest litigation (PIL), filed by Calcutta-based legal activist Deepak Prahladka, Indian authorities were warned thrice by British authorities but did not take any action.

A huge quantity of arms and ammunition — about 250 AK-47s, grenades and rocket launchers — were dropped from an aircraft in Purulia village of West Bengal on December 17, 1995. The villagers sold them to criminals but not a single person was arrested.

Rather, the PIL said, police in West Bengal offered Rs 100 per weapon to villagers if they returned the same. The state government was unable to explain why and who dropped the arms.

The AN-26 aircraft crew was arrested at Mumbai airport on December 22, 1995.

After years of probe by the CBI, sessions judge P K Biswas sentenced a person named Peter Bleach and five Latvians to life imprisonment on January 31 last year. The accused, now Russian citizens, have filed appeals in the Calcutta High Court.

The British authorities had alerted Indian officials on three occasions, the PIL said. But no steps were taken to impound the aircraft when it landed at Varanasi airport for refuelling prior to the arms drop.

As a result, neither the main culprit Kim Davy, who dropped the arms, could be arrested nor the arms could be seized, it said.