Sanjay Dutt to surrender before court today

Mumbai, May 16: Actor

, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case for possessing illegal weapons, will

before a special Tada

in Mumbai on Thursday. He will be taken into custody and sent first to Arthur Jail Road here and then Pune's Yerwada Jail to complete his pending prison terms of three-and-half-years.

Of the total term of five years, Dutt has already served 18 months in jail two decades ago and the Supreme Court, in its order of March 21, asked him to serve another 42 months. The apex court had reduced the trial court's sentence of six years by one year.

Authorities at the Arthur Jail received an anonymous letter on Wednesday saying that the actor's life had a threat there. On Tuesday, Dutt had sought permission to surrender directly before the Yerwada Jail fearing a threat to his life although he withdrew his plea later, without giving any reasons.

Authorities at the Yerwada Jail have promised adequate security for Dutt though no special arrangement was made for the celebrity in the jail.

The two-month time since the apex court upheld his conviction has been dramatic. A stunned Dutt appeared with folded hands soon after the verdict was given and said he would not appeal against the order. He was seen weeping on camera and begged for privacy.

However, as the date for his surrender neared, the actor appealed for an extension of the time to surrender so that it could complete his pending films or otherwise it would cause immense loss to many people. The apex court gave him one month to wrap up all the work and that time-frame expires today at 4 pm.

On Tuesday, a producer of one of Dutt's under-production films also sought an extension for Dutt but was turned down. Dutt's petition seeking a review of the apex court's judgment was also rejected.

Dutt was convicted for illegally possessing weapons that were part of a consignment brought to India for carrying out blasts that killed over 250 people and injured over 700. It was said that the attacks were engineered by Dawood Ibrahim with the help of Pakistan's ISI.

Two men, Keri Adajania and Yusuf Nullwala, who destroyed the AK-56 rifle, will also surrender with Dutt on Thursday.

OneIndia News