Life imprisonment following Bengal arms drop

BBC World Service, 2 feb 2000

A court in the Indian city of Calcutta has sentenced to life imprisonment a British arms trader, Peter Bleach and five Latvian accomplices.

They had earlier been convicted of smuggling weapons, after several crates of arms, apparently meant for a militant Hindu sect, were parachuted out of a transport plane over West Bengal in l995.

Mr Bleach, who maintained that the British and Indian governments knew of the arms shipment, says he will appeal.