DNA exclusive: Danish team comes to India to explore Kim Davy's extradition

Diplomatic pressure exerted by India finally seems to be paying off. A high level Danish delegation is visiting India on March 7 and 8 to explore options to exradite prime accused of Purulia arms drop case, Kim Davy, to India for trial.

A six member delegation headed by Jens Christian Bulow, deputy permanent secretary in the ministry of justice will meet seven member Indian team headed by special secretary (internal secretary) Jayaraman in the ministry of external affairs on Thursday to discuss possible ways to put Kim Davy on trial in an Indian court.

The Indian team will also comprise of officials from the CBI, MEA and law ministry while the Danish team will have the ambassador and officials from criminal enforcement division. 

Top level sources said that the two sides will also explore the option to try Davy within the Indian embassy in Copenhagen by an Indian court.

This option had figured in after home secretary RK Singh discussed Davy's extradition with Indian ambassador to Denmark Ashok Attri in September last year and asked the ambassador to push for it, taking into view the opinion of three Danish law firms.

In the law firms’ opinion there was enough material in the case and ground for an appeal for trial by an Indian court.

"It was decided then that the case would be pursued vigorously with the Danish government," a senior home ministry official said. If all goes according to the script and Davy is found guilty by the Indian court, he may he may have to undergo the prison term in a Danish jail, the official added.

India had scaled down diplomatic relations with Denmark last year after it refused to appeal in the Supreme Court against a high court order that sided with Kim Davy and refused to extradite him. The case was subsequently taken up by the external affairs minister Salman Khursheed with his Danish PM Helle Thorning Schmidt on the sidelines of the Asia- Europe meeting in Laos.

Davy, whose real name is Niels Hoick, alias Niels Christian Nielsen is a prime accused in Purulia  arms drop case that still remains shrouded in mystery.

Davy, along with six other foreigner crew is accused of dropping huge cache of sophisticated arms - including AK-47 assault rifles and several million rounds of ammunition in West Bengal's Purulia district t on the night of December 17, 1995 from an AN-26 aircraft. The arms, purportedly, were meant for Anand Margis to have a resurrection against the West Bengal government.

While the crew of the aircraft consisting of five Latvian citizens and British national Peter Bleach were all arrested, Davy managed to escape.

The crew members were released from prison in 2000 after a request from Russian authorities, while Bleach was given presidential pardon in 2004 following a request by the UK government.

Later in 2010 the Danish government agreed to extradite Davy but he appealed against the decision in a city court which ruled against the extradition in November, 2010. The Danish government subsequently appealed against the city court’s decision in the higher court that upheld the order of the city court against extradition.

India then asked Denmark to appeal in its Supreme Court but Danish authorities refused to do so reportedly conveying that the prosecutor was not under the government control.