Controversial Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt released from prison

Controversial Indian actor Sanjay Dutt, one of the superstars of the Mumbai film industry, or Bollywood as it is commonly known, was released from prison Thursday after a 42month imprisonment for illegal possession of arms and links with those accused in the Mumbai attacks of 1993.

“There is no easy walk to freedom, my friends,” Dutt told reporters outside the jail in the city of Pune, near Mumbai, where he served a fiveyear sentence.

His sentence, which he completed in parts, was reduced by 144 days on account of “good conduct.”

On exiting the prison, the actor saluted the Indian flag and kissed the soil in a mark of respect.

Dutt, 56, was convicted in a case linked to the 1993 serial blasts that killed 257 people and injured 713 in Mumbai, although the court declared him innocent of involvement in the attacks and convicted him only for illegal possession of arms.

The police said some of those accused in the attacks had visited Dutt’s house and given him several AK56 rifles, hand grenades and cartridges, and that after returning most of these arms, the actor kept the rifle for his personal defense.

Born to legendary Bollywood actors, Sunil Dutt and Nargis, a young Dutt had become embroiled in a vicious circle of alcohol and drugs and spent time in a rehabilitation center in the United States.

The actor, began his movie career during the 1980s and acted in many acclaimed movies, including Saajan (1992) and Khalnayak (1993), in which he played the villain.

He has starred in over 100 movies, including Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), a huge hit with the public and critics alike, which tells the story of a man who sees the ghost of Mahatma Gandhi, and guided by him, begins a fight against corruption and various other problems of contemporary India.