Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was released from prison early on Thursday after serving about four years of a five-year sentence for possessing weapons supplied by gangsters behind deadly bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993.

The disgraced star kissed the ground and saluted at the prison as he walked free in the western city of Pune, after authorities decided to release him ahead of schedule for good behavior.

Facing a crush of police and media outside Yerwada Central Jail, the smiling 56-year-old was bundled into a white SUV and driven away.