Held in China for over a year, 12 diamond traders back in India

New Delhi:? There's relief for the families of 12 diamond traders who have returned to Mumbai after being released by a Chinese court last month.

These men belong to the group of 22 Indian traders from Gujarat and Mumbai who were arrested in 2010 and charged with smuggling diamonds worth $7.3 million into China. They were accused of sourcing diamonds illegally from Hong Kong for sale in China.

But a Chinese court in Shenzhen had recently found the 12 of them innocent and ordered their deportation. The rest of the traders have been awarded varied prison terms ranging from six years to three and half years.

The case turned out to be politically sensitive as both the Central and Gujarat governments made repeated appeals to the Chinese government for the early release of the detained traders.

This comes a day after two Indian traders from Mumbai who were trapped in a hotel near Yiwu in China were released after the Indian government's efforts. The traders have been escorted by officers from the Indian consulate to Shanghai.

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