Sanjay Dutt earns Rs 204 as carpenter

PUNE: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is keenly looking forward to walking free after 16 days at the Yerawada jail here -- during which period he earned a total of Rs.204 working as a carpenter.

When Asim Farode, a human rights activist and a lawyer, met Dutt in the prison Monday morning, the actor innocently asked him, "Aap ko pakka lagta hai ki main chhoot jaoonga?" (Are you sure I will be released?)

Dutt, according to Farode, also expressed his readiness to take part in a rehabilitation programme in Yerawada jail.

The Supreme Court, on Monday, granted interim bail to Dutt, jailed for six years for illegally receiving guns from terrorists involved in the 1993 Mumbai bombings.

Dutt is expected to be released after the Supreme Court order is submitted and certified before a Mumbai court and then passed on to jail authorities. The process may take until late Tuesday.

Farode said that Dutt had been working as a carpenter in the jail earning Rs.12.74 a day and that his total earnings so far had accumulated to Rs.204.