B'desh hands over Ulfa chief to India

Anup Chetia, a top Ulfa leader, was on Wednesday handed over to India by Bangladesh in a significant move that the Centre believes would give a fillip to the peace process in Assam.

This comes days after the successful deportation of underworld don Chhota Rajan from Indonesia. Chetia, the founder general secretary of Ulfa, is wanted for killings, abductions, bank robberies and extortion activities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina to thank her for handing over Chetia, whose real name is Golap Baruah. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the move showed Dhaka’s “commitment and maturity” to cooperate with India on issues like terror and organised crime.

Official sources said Chetia, who was in Bangladesh jail since December 1997, was handed over to Indian officials on Wednesday morning following earlier request from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and active involvement of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Union Home Ministry officials said the process of handing over has been going on for last six months through Intelligence and diplomatic channels.

India has been demanding Chetia’s deportation for over two decades. However, Indian authorities ran into a wall as there was no Extradition Treaty between the two countries.

The decision to hand him over came after Chetia formally wrote to the Bangladesh government that he was “keen to return to India”.

He had fled India after he was released in 1991 by the then Assam Chief Minister Hiteshwar Saikia. Chetia was arrested in Bangladesh on December 21, 1997 under the Foreigners’ Act and Passports Act and charged with unlawful entry into Bangladesh, for carrying illegal foreign currencies, firearms and satellite phone.

Though his jail tenure ended long back, in 2003, he was kept in prison as the court directed to keep him in custody until a decision was taken on his asylum plea.

According to officials, Chetia had sought political asylum in Bangladesh thrice in 2005, 2008 and in 2011. He had also approached the United Nations and other international organisations to grant him asylum abroad.

The home minister telephoned Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and informed him about India taking over Chetia’s custody. Singh and Gogoi discussed about various cases registered against Chetia in Assam.

Separately, Gogoi expressed hope that Chetia would play an important role in the peace process. “We believe that he will play an important role in the talks process. We have been demanding for extradition of Anup Chetia from Bangladesh for fruitful discussion between the government and pro-talk Ulfa. It has been a demand of the pro-talk group too,” Gogoi said in a statement.