Jain and Malhotra released from police custody in Jakarta

Chennai: Polaris Software CEO Arun Jain and senior vice-president Rajiv Malhotra have been released and are safe in the Indian embassy premises in Jakarta. The release followed a major diplomatic initiative by the Indian government.

"Jain was released this morning. His passport has been returned and he will be back in a day or two," according to Union IT and Communication Minister Pramod Mahajan.

Jain and Malhotra were arrested by the Jakarta police on Friday last following a complaint by Bank Artha Graha, where they had gone for discussions about a commercial dispute involving an amount of about $1.3 million.

Mahajan thanked External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha for his "initiative" and Indonesian authorities. He, however, did not comment on the dispute, saying the Indian government has nothing to comment on this as it could be a breach of contract which the two parties could settle in the court.

Mahajan also said that if the issue was not settled by today, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee would have also intervened and discussed the issue with the Megawati government. "Now the issue is settled."