Dutt not a terrorist, says Digvijay

Actor Sanjay Dutt, sentenced to five years in prison in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, “is not a criminal or terrorist” but only behaved like an “immature child”, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said on Sunday.

He came out in strong support of Dutt, sentenced under the Arms Act in the 1993 Mumbai terror blast case, saying he had committed the crime at a “young age”.

“Sanjay Dutt is not a criminal or terrorist. The atmosphere was bad in 1993 and he behaved like an immature child,” Digvijay Singh told reporters.

The Congress general secretary said the actor was then under the impression that his father was being targeted for supporting the Muslim cause, so he may have done it.
“So as an obvious reaction of a kid to do something, if he has committed a mistake then I feel that he has undergone the punishment for it,” he said.

Singh’s remarks come in the wake of support for Sanjay Dutt from a number of politicians and film personalities who want the actor to be pardoned.

The Supreme Court on Thursday sentenced the actor to five years in jail after upholding his conviction under Arms Act for illegally possessing prohibited weapons, including an AK-56 rifle, which was part of the consignment of weapons and explosives brought to India for the 1993 coordinated serial blasts in Mumbai by Dawood Ibrahim and associates.

The BJP has opposed the demand for relief to Dutt, saying that the law should be the same for everyone.