Govt to get top ULFA man's custody

Indian government is hoping to have top United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) militant Anup Chetia in its custody. Chetia is currently lodged in a jail in Bangladesh, with which India signed an extradition treaty earlier this year.

His return to India is expected to speed up the government’s peace talks with the former ULFA militants.

“Chetia had offered to come back and we hope to have him here as soon as possible,” sources said. The handing over of the militant was earlier scheduled for this Monday, but it is rescheduled after the Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni's visit to India.

In return for Chetia, India may handover Bangladeshi terrorist Subrata Bain, arrested in Kolkata last year for carrying fake currency and illegal arms, to that country. Bain is currently lodged in a Kolkata prison.  The Awami League government contends Bain was responsible for terrorist activities including a bomb blast at a rally of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The cooperation on security, however, is not linked to the crucial India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement, which is expected to be taken up by the Parliament in the monsoon session for approval.