Last update - 00:00 30/10/2006
India releases Israeli detained when bullets found in bag
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent
Indian officials on Monday released an Israeli backpacker who was arrested a month and a half ago after an ammunition clip and 16 bullets were found in her bag.
Noa Haviv received her passport back from officials and will be sent to Israel in the coming days.
Haviv, a 28-year-old Jerusalem resident, flew to India for vacation, and was arrested shortly after landing when an ammunition magazine and 16 bullets were discovered in her backpack.
Her mother Hagit said the ammunition belongs to Noa's brother, who had used the bag when he went on reserve duty a short time before Noa's trip to India.
Haviv was inirially held in police custody, but was released to house arrest after a few days, stripped of her passport.
On Monday, a local judge decided to return the passport to Haviv and send her home.
Israeli Consulate officials in India aided Haviv during her arrest and trial. The officials worried Haviv would be held for a long time, as was the case with Gili Haskin, an Israeli tour guide held for three and a half months and finally released without any charges.
Sources close to Haviv said she received her passport back in a relatively short amount of time because a female judge presided over her trial.