Patiala: A fine of Rs 3,000 is stopping the release of Bhupal Man Damai alias Yusuf Nepali, one of the three non-Pakistani conspirators behind the sensational hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 to Kandahar in December 1999.
Nepali was to be released on Friday after jail authorities received the mandatory no-objection certificates from jails of other states where cases against him were lodged after Nepali's arrest in 1999.
However, lack of money with him to pay the fine prevented the authorities from freeing him on Friday. Nepali was convicted under section 25 of Arms Act and sentenced to three years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3,000. However, the Punjab and Haryana high court had in February acquitted him of murder, hijacking and other charges, holding that the investigation agency failed to prove his "active participation" in the plot to hijack the plane.
Besides his poor financial background, hardly anybody has turned up to meet him during his 15-year stay in the jail. None of his relatives turned up to pay the fine on Friday also.
04/04/14 Amaninder Pal Sharma/Times of India
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Nepali was to be released on Friday after jail authorities received the mandatory no-objection certificates from jails of other states where cases against him were lodged after Nepali's arrest in 1999.
However, lack of money with him to pay the fine prevented the authorities from freeing him on Friday. Nepali was convicted under section 25 of Arms Act and sentenced to three years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3,000. However, the Punjab and Haryana high court had in February acquitted him of murder, hijacking and other charges, holding that the investigation agency failed to prove his "active participation" in the plot to hijack the plane.
Besides his poor financial background, hardly anybody has turned up to meet him during his 15-year stay in the jail. None of his relatives turned up to pay the fine on Friday also.
04/04/14 Amaninder Pal Sharma/Times of India
