Sanjay Dutt freed from Yerawada Jail

Pune, Aug 23 (UNI) Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt walked out of Yerawada jail here early this morning, three days after being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts that killed 257 people.

A grim but relieved-looking Dutt greeted his fans outside the jail but avoided speaking to the media, and drove away straight to the Pune Airport to catch a chartered flight to Mumbai.

He was accompanied by his brother-in-law Kumar Gaurav and lawyer Satish Manshinde, who reached the jail at 0530 hrs and managed to process the papers for the actor's release at 0730 hrs.

Jubilant fans and supporters raised slogans ''Munnabhai Lage Raho and Zindabad''. The crowd has been gathering outside the jail for the past two days to have a glimpse of the superstar.

Dutt had been lodged in jail since August 1, after Special TADA Court Judge P D Kode sentenced him on July 31 to six years in prison under the Arms Act for illegal possession of weapons.

Yusuf Nalwala, Dutt's friend and co-accused, was also released besides him.

Dutt's lawyers had petitioned the apex court against his conviction and sought bail until the petition was ruled on.

On Monday, as an interim measure, the Supreme Court ordered the release of the filmstar and five others till the copies of the detailed judgement of the trial court were provided to them.

The court had also directed all of them to immediately surrender once they received the copy of the judgement.

The apex court had also directed that the petitioners would be restored to their pre-conviction stage, which means they will be released from jail if they were on bail at the time of their conviction.

UNI