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Bleach gets presidential clemency
Kolkata, Jan 31: British national Peter Bleach, convicted in the Purulia arms drop case, has been granted presidential clemency. Bleach has been in prison in India since 1995 on illegal arms charges.
Kolkata, Jan 31: British national Peter Bleach, convicted in the Purulia arms drop case, has been granted presidential clemency. Bleach has been in prison in India since 1995 on illegal arms charges.
The announcement was made by Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani in Delhi on Friday during a visit from British Home Secretary David Blunkett.
Yorkshire man Bleach, 52, was arrested with five Latvian air crew caught on an illegal arms drop and sentenced to life in a Kolkata jail.
Bleach’s elderly mother, Oceana Bleach, said she was "thrilled" by the news.
"We have cleared the release of Peter Bleach," Advani said after meeting Blunkett. There had been a longstanding demand that Peter Bleach be released."
The UK Government had requested a pardon for Bleach last year but it was rejected.
Bleach was arrested for dropping rifles, rocket launchers and hand grenades from a Russian transport aircraft over the Purulia region on the night of 17 December, 1995.
He was convicted in January 2000, along with the five ethnic Russian Latvians, of conspiracy to wage war against India and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Latvians were pardoned after Russian President Vladimir Putin intervened in the case.
Bureau Report
Yorkshire man Bleach, 52, was arrested with five Latvian air crew caught on an illegal arms drop and sentenced to life in a Kolkata jail.
Bleach’s elderly mother, Oceana Bleach, said she was "thrilled" by the news.
"We have cleared the release of Peter Bleach," Advani said after meeting Blunkett. There had been a longstanding demand that Peter Bleach be released."
The UK Government had requested a pardon for Bleach last year but it was rejected.
Bleach was arrested for dropping rifles, rocket launchers and hand grenades from a Russian transport aircraft over the Purulia region on the night of 17 December, 1995.
He was convicted in January 2000, along with the five ethnic Russian Latvians, of conspiracy to wage war against India and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Latvians were pardoned after Russian President Vladimir Putin intervened in the case.
Bureau Report