The suspense surrounding actor Sanjay Dutt’s surrender ended on Wednesday as he withdrew the application he filed on Tuesday before the TADA court here.
Convicted under the Arms Act in a 1993 Mumbai blasts case, Sanjay had sought the court’s permission to surrender directly at the Yerwada prison in Pune. In his application, the Bollywood star said he harboured fears of being attacked by “fundamentalists” while in transit or at the temporary prison arrangement till being taken to a prison in Pune or Nashik. He had cited in the application an anonymous letter of threat, which was sent to prison authorities.
On Wednesday, Sanjay’s lawyers accepted the court’s suggestion to withdraw the application and agreed to surrender before the TADA court which is situated inside the Arthur Road jail.
After spending a day or two there, he may be assigned another prison to complete the remaining 42 months of his sentence.
Sanjay, the son of legendary Hindi actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis, was convicted for six years by the court for keeping AK-56 rifles which he got from the conspirators of the 1993 blasts.
The Supreme Court, while confirming his conviction on March 21, reduced his sentence to five years, the minimum sentence under the Arms Act. Having spent 18 months in jail as an undertrial, Sanjay now has to spend the remaining term. The SC had also dismissed his review petition.
On Tuesday, the apex court turned down film producers’ attempts to delay the actor’s surrender. The court, which had initially given Sanjay four weeks to surrender, granted him another four weeks to wind up his pending work. His four-week breather ends on Thursday.