Pune: After a long wait of 42 months, Sanjay Dutt was finally released from Yerwada jail in Pune today, where he was serving the remainder of his five-year sentence for possession of illegal arms in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.
The actor's family, friends and industry colleagues are all excited to welcome him back home, but before he settles back into daily life, Dutt has a packed day ahead of him.
Read: There is no easy walk to freedom: Sanjay Dutt after completing sentence
After the release, the actor will fly back Mumbai and will directly visit Siddhivinayak Temple for blessings. After Siddhivinayak, the actor has planned to head to Marine Lines to seek blessings at his mother's grave.
Then finally, Dutt will head to his apartment in Imperial Heights and after freshen up, he is expected to come back down and speak to the media about his return.
Posters welcoming him have been put up outside the home of the actor, the star of films like Khalnayak and the blockbuster Munnabhai series.
Yesterday, a petition was filed by social activist Pradip Bhalekar in the Bombay High Court challenging Sanjay's early release. The PIL which is likely to be taken up by the court on Thursday questions the "special treatment" given to the actor.
The Bollywood superstar was arrested on April 19, 1993, for possession and destruction of an AK-56 rifle, which was a part of cache of arms and explosives which landed in India prior to the serial blasts of March 1993.
During the investigation and the marathon trial, he spent 18 months in jail. On July 31, 2007, the TADA court in Mumbai sentenced him to six years' rigorous imprisonment under the Arms Act and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000. In 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling but reduced the sentence to five years. During his imprisonment, he was granted parole of 90 days in December 2013 and again for 30 days later.
