India step closer to Kim Davy’s extradition

KOLKATA: Six years after a Danish court refused to extradite Niels Holck aka Kim Davy, the prime accused in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case, to India, officials are hopeful of getting him in custody with the Denmark government responding “most positively” to a fresh extradition appeal.

For last two decades, India has been trying hard to extradite Davy, who is accused of dropping unauthorised arms, including hundreds of AK-47 rifles, anti-tank grenades, pistols, rocket launchers and thousands of rounds of ammunition, from an aircraft in Bengal’s Purulia district 22 years ago.

Now, the Denmark government is learnt to have written to the government of India and inquired about the details of the place where Davy, if extradited, would be lodged in response to the latest extradition request made in December last year, officials aware of the matter said.

“This is the first time when this extradition issue has taken a positive turn,” said a senior official at the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI). “Two point clarifications were demanded by the Denmark government. This is mostly about the place of custody. We have listed some suggestions and sent it to them,” the person said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has already reverted to its Danish counterpart elaborating on its probable arrangements for Davy and some more suggestion for his custody.

The suggestions have reached Denmark government in June with all specific details, said CBI sources in Delhi.