Date:19/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/19/stories/2008041955841300.htm

National

U.S. nationals remanded to judicial custody

Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: The two U.S. nationals, Monica Bond and her daughter Heather, who were arrested on Monday after 9 mm cartridges were found in their baggage at Bagdogra airport in West Bengal, were remanded to judicial custody for another 14 days after a prayer for bail was rejected by the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Siliguri on Friday.

The women who were charged under sections 25 (1) (a) and 35 of the Arms Act 1959 were taken to the Siliguri Special Correctional Home, their lawyer Abhaypada Chatterjee, told The Hindu from Siliguri.

The court had earlier rejected a bail application when the two women were first produced before it a day after their arrest.

A senior official of the U.S. Consul General, Kolkata, was present in the court during Friday’s hearing, Mr Chatterjee said.

The women had come to India last month and were on their way to Delhi after a visit to Darjeeling when they were detained at the Bagdogra airport. They were to have flown back to the U.S. on Wednesday.