Sanjay Dutt, who has been diagnosed with lung cancer, has been granted a five-year US visa. According to US policies, if anyone is convicted in any case for five years and more, he needs a special waiver to apply for a US visa. It may be mentioned here that Sanjay was convicted in the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts case. He was arrested in April 1993 on charges of possession of an AK-56 rifle, a 9 mm pistol and ammunition connected to the blasts. The actor was in and out of prison for the next 23 years before he was acquitted under the Terrorist And Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), and convicted under the Arms Act. He was finally released from prison on 25th February, 2016.
There have been reports that Sanjay’s family was looking at flying him to either the USA or Singapore for treatment of his lung cancer. He had been admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Bombay last week for tests. His lung cancer was detected at Lilavati Hospital where he was admitted on 8th August for breathlessness.
It may be mentioned here that Sanjay’s mother, actress Nargis, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1980. She underwent treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York before passing away in India in 1981. Sanjay’s first wife, Richa Sharma, had died of brain tumour in New York in 1996.