Explained: Sanjay Dutt’s Long Way Down in the Arms Case

Dutt was arrested in 1993 by the Crime Branch of India at the Mumbai airport upon his return from Mauritius, on charges of possession of an AK-56 rifle, a 9 mm pistol and ammunition connected to the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
Spending 23 years in and out of prison, he was acquitted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), and convicted under the Arms Act.

Dutt, son of veteran actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis Dutt, was finally released from prison on 25 February 2016.

As the much-awaited Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju is set to hit theatres on 30 June, fans breathe a sigh of relief that the rollercoaster ride that’s been his life for the past 25 years is finally over. And what remains is a story about a man who, as he states himself, made some bad decisions and paid the price.

The Link to 1993 Mumbai Blasts

On 12 March 1993, 13 bombs went off in succession and shook the city of Mumbai. Some of the most recognisable buildings – The Bombay Stock Exchange, The Air India Building, The Plaza Cinema and the Shiv Sena Headquarters – crumbled to the ground, killing 257 people and injuring over 1,400, according to BBC reports.

The attacks, which have been named the deadliest in modern India, had reportedly been in retaliation to the demolition of the Babri mosque by Hindu extremists in Ayodhya, in December 2002.

Following the attacks, communal riots broke out in the country, while news spread that it was the notorious Gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his D-Gang that were the masterminds behind the carnage.

The weapons, which were found in his possession later and for which he was later implicated, were 3 AK-56 rifles, 9 magazines, 450 cartridges, a 9mm pistol and over 20 hand grenades.

How Was Sanjay Dutt Implicated?

Abu Salem’s initial role in the D-Gang was that of a driver, transporting illegal weapons and contraband to various groups, who in his confession, which was recorded post his arrest, had admitted to delivering such a consignment, straight into Dutt’s hands.

Abu Salem’s induction into the D-Gang was through his friend and business associate Aziz. According to his confession to the CBI, reported on Hindustan Times, Salem said that it was Aziz who had asked him to accompany him to Dutt’s house in Bandra, along with Samir and Hafin, owner of Magnum video. He was sent back to the house the following day again, where:

Dutt called for a tool kit, which he used to open the sides and flooring of the van. The vehicle had 9-10 rifles, 80-90 hand grenades, magazines and bullets… Dutt took 2-3 rifles, hand grenades, a few bullets and magazines.

Abu Salem’s confession, reported by Hindustan Times

He added that after a few days, he was made to go back to Dutt’s house, where the latter had handed him a bag containing 2 rifles, hand grenades and bullets.

Following the arrests, Salem had acted on orders and gone into hiding. He first went to Azamgarh, then Lucknow, then shifted to Dubai and the US. He was finally tracked down to Lisbon (Portugal), where was living with his partner Monica Bedi, and was arrested and extradited to India on 11 November 2005, the report says. In September 2017, he was given life imprisonment for his role in the 1993 serial blasts case.

How Did Sanjay Dutt Finally Confess?

As a result of their investigations into the blasts, the Mumbai police had found that Dutt had acquired AK-56s from Anees Ibrahim, Dawood’s younger brother. In his later confession to the CBI, Salem had also corroborated this fact, adding that Aziz and Anees were close associates.

Tracking his return, on 19 April 1993, the police intercepted him at the Mumbai airport and arrested him for being in possession of arms.  

On 28 April 1993, Dutt made a confession to the police, which he later retracted. In it, he said that Salem had visited his home in January 1993 with Samir Hingora and Hanif Kadawala, and had brought three AK-56 rifles with ammunition, out of which he had kept one. The gun which was found in his house was to protect his family, Dutt claimed, as they had received threats during the communal riots that had broken out after the attacks.

According to a report by News18, which contains a part of his confession statement, Dutt got scared after he heard that Hingora and Kadawala had been arrested by the police for their connection to the serial blasts, and had immediately asked a man named Yusuf Nulwalla to destroy the rifle.

What Were the Charges?

Following this, Dutt was charged under the stringent Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA for receiving weapons from Salem, another direct accused in the case, and for allegedly playing a conspiratorial role in the blasts.

On 4 November 1993, a primary chargesheet which ran more than 10,000 pages was filed against the 189 accused in the case, including Dutt.   

However, in the period between his arrest in 1993 and 2006, Dutt had already been granted bail twice, once in 1993 and once in 2005.

Finally, in November 2005, the TADA court acquitted Dutt under TADA, but convicted him under the Arms Act. In July 2007, Dutt was given a sentence of seven years in prison. However, a month later, Dutt challenged the Supreme Court’s decision and in what become a never-ending struggle for the next six years, the court heard the appeals of Dutt as well as the other accused in the case.

In 2013, the court sentenced Dutt to five years in prison and asked him to surrender within four weeks of the verdict date.

How Much Time Did He Really Spend In Prison?

Following the Supreme Court’s 2013 verdict, which confirmed his conviction, and taking into account the 18 months prior to the hearing that Dutt had already spent in jail, Dutt was expected to spend another 42 months in prison.

Dutt had filed a petition in front of the court, requesting it to review this decision, but the latter had rejected it and demanded that he surrender within four weeks. Thus, in May 2013, Dutt officially surrendered. However, just a few months later, in October, 2013, he was out on furlough for 14 days, which was extended by a fortnight, due to an alleged pain in his leg.

In December 2013, he was again granted parole for 28 days, which was extended to another 28 days, due to his first wife being diagnosed with tuberculosis. A year later, in December 2014, he was granted another 14-day furlough and in August, 2015, he was out on a 30-day furlough, as his daughter was undergoing a nose surgery.

One has to wonder whether it was Dutt’s status as a high-end Bollywood A-lister which allowed him multiple opportunities to visit his family or be out and about in society through the course of his conviction? 

According to some reports, Dutt was once granted bail because his father, Sunil Dutt, who was then emerging as a strong Congress personality, had called in a few favours.

Life Since Release?

After several tumultuous years of absence from B-Town, Dutt was finally released from Yerwada prison at 8 am on 25 February 2016, where he was greeted by his wife Maanyata, his sisters and several other well-wishers. He walked a free man.

In a show of goodwill, the first thing he did was to visit the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai. Following this, he visited the grave of his mother, Nargis, and later addressed the media outside his residence.

In an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur Magazine, Dutt said:

I think faith in God, my family, and people of my country – these three things helped me fight. My father always told me that life is a struggle and one should never run away from it. Face the problem and look at it in the eye and fight it. You can’t hide behind a bottle of alcohol or drugs or build an attitude to escape it. This is how I learned to survive.

Sanjay Dutt to Entrepreneur Magazine

He added that his plans for his production house and his career in Bollywood were far from over. He was just waiting for the right time to stage his complete comeback.