New Delhi: A court in China on Wednesday sentenced five Surat based diamond traders to imprisonment of between three to five years and acquitted 16 others of charges of smuggling.
The diamond traders, mostly Gujaratis, were arrested by Shenzhen customs officials for allegedly smuggling diamonds from Hong Kong to China on January 8, 2010.
Shenzhen is a major city in China's Guangdong province close to Hong Kong.
Apart from the Indian traders, an Australian national, also accused of illegal diamond trade, faced much heavier punishment of 14 years in jail.
Reacting to the judgement by the Chinese court, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Thankful to China for acting on my request of speeding judicial process for 22 Indians imprisoned there for 2 yrs."
During his last month visit to China, Modi raised the issue with top Chinese leadership and apprised them of the plight of the Indians anguishing in a Chinese jail.
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