Policeman who hugged Sanjay Dutt gets job back

MUMBAI: A prison guard suspended for hugging Sanjay Dutt has been reinstated after a regional politician took a "humane view" of his behaviour, an official said on Tuesday.   

An inquiry against eight other constables, who saw off actor Sanjay Dutt with a handshake after he was let out on bail last week, has also been dropped.   

Dutt, 48, has been jailed for six years for obtaining illegal firearms from gangsters linked to worst bomb attacks in 1993 in which 257 people were killed. He is on bail till Sept 27 pending an appeal in the Supreme Court.   

Television cameras caught the policemen giving the actor an effusive send-off on Thursday, prompting authorities to raise charges of inappropriate behaviour against them.   

But the chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, said the action to suspend one of the policemen was "very harsh", and that it was Dutt who had taken the initiative to hug and shake hands with the guards.   

"The constable will be allowed to report to duty," said Rajendra Dhamne, the chief of the prison where Dutt was lodged.