BOLLYWOOD'S actor Sanjay Dutt was released from prison early on Thursday (February 25) after serving about four years of a five-year sentence for possessing weapons supplied by gangsters behind deadly bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993.
The disgraced star kissed the ground and saluted at the prison as he walked free in the western city of Pune, after authorities decided to release him ahead of schedule for good behaviour.
Facing a crush of police and media outside Yerwada Central Jail, the smiling 56-year-old was bundled into a white SUV and driven away.
"I am out here because of their (fans') support. There is no easy walk to freedom, my friends," the 56-year-old later told media at Pune airport before reportedly taking a chartered flight to Mumbai.
Dutt was originally sentenced to a six-year term after being convicted in 2006 of possessing guns supplied by mafia bosses who orchestrated the series of bombings in Mumbai that killed 257 people.
He spent 18 months in prison before being released on bail in 2007, pending an appeal. In March 2013, the Supreme Court upheld his conviction but cut his prison term from six years to five, and the star was sent back to prison to serve the remaining three-and-a half years of his sentence.
Social activists fiercely opposed Dutt's release eight months ahead of schedule, claiming he was being given special treatment because of his celebrity status.
Dutt was granted several months of freedom at different times during his jail spell to work on unfinished Bollywood movies whose multi-million dollar productions were at risk.
Activists filed legal action in the Bombay High Court challenging his release, arguing that other prisoners waited years for a decision on their remission requests.
"What about all the other convicts especially on petty offences who are rotting in jail?" petitioning lawyer Nitin Satpute on Wednesday (February 24).
But the Maharashtra state government and Dutt's lawyers say the decision was made "according to normal procedures".
The star was given credit for good behaviour and taking part in jail activities like running a radio programme and making paper bags.
Dutt shot to fame in the mid-1980s in a string of action movies in which he performed his own stunts, earning him the nickname "Deadly Dutt".
He is best known for playing a mobster with a heart of gold in the popular "Munnabhai" series.
The 1993 attacks were believed to have been staged by Muslim underworld figures in retaliation for religious riots in which mainly Muslims died, following the razing of an ancient mosque at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state.
Dutt was found guilty of possession of an automatic rifle and a pistol, part of a cache of weapons brought to Mumbai before the attacks.
Dutt, whose Muslim mother and Hindu father were two of India's biggest stars, insisted the two guns were only meant to protect his family in the tense atmosphere in Mumbai following the mosque's destruction.
In 2007, he was acquitted of more serious charges of conspiracy in the deadly blasts, which also wounded more than 700 people.
