Want Kim Davy? Put him up in 5-star: Denmark

Denmark says its ready to fast-track the extradition of Purulia arms drop case “mastermind” Kim Davy, provided India promises to lodge him in a five-star hotel during the period of trial, HT has learnt.

Denmark says its ready to fast-track the extradition of Purulia arms drop case “mastermind” Kim Davy, provided India promises to lodge him in a five-star hotel during the period of trial, HT has learnt.

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The extradition of Davy, alias Niels Holck, is a contentious issue that has strained bilateral ties. In July 2012, India scaled down diplomatic contact with the Denmark over stonewalling of extradition request.

“Denmark specifically asked us if India can commit to lodging Davy in a five-star hotel when he gets extradited to face trial. We were shocked by the audacity of the query,” said a home ministry official on condition of anonymity.

“We will tell Denmark… if Davy gets extradited to India, he will be lodged in a detention facility that would meet the benchmarks of a Danish jail.”

A Dane, Davy is accused of orchestrating the air-drop of a huge cache of arms and ammunitions, including 300 AK-47s, anti-tank grenades and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, from an AN-26 aircraft that he owned on the night of December 17, 1995 in West Bengal's Purulia district.

Five days later, Davy slipped away even after the IAF scrambled jets to force land his AN-26 at the Mumbai airport. His six "accomplices" -- five Latvians and British arms dealer Peter Bleach -- were arrested. The arms, the 50-year-old later told a Danish court, were meant to fight the Left government that ruled the state at that time.

Eight years after India sought his extradition, Davy, who is wanted in five more countries, resurfaced on April 9, 2010 and Denmark ordered his extradition but he challenged it. The Danish eastern high court on June 30, 2011 cancelled the order, saying he could be tortured in India.

A year later, the Danish government rejected the CBI's request to appeal the order. The issue, it now seems, may hit economic ties as well. "We may downgrade economic ties with Denmark. They can't not extradite a terrorist on flimsy grounds," said the official.

A visiting Danish delegation recently asked India to file a fresh extradition request.