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Purulia case: 5 Latvians released

Rifat Jawaid in Calcutta

Five Latvians, who were arrested in the Purulia arms drop case, were released Saturday.

The five, Alexandre Klichine, Oleg Gaidash, Igor Moskvitin, Igor Timmerman and Antimenko Eugueni, had been sentenced to life imprisonment along with British national Peter Bleach.

The Latvians were produced before the sessions court in Calcutta Saturday morning and were then taken away, in two cars, by Russian embassy officials.

They were in prison since 1995.

However, Bleach was not released.

Sources said the release comes ahead of Russian President Vladmir Putin's visit to India in September. Union ministers Jaswant Singh and George Fernandes had visited Russia recently.

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Operation Leech: What really happened?

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