Bangladesh to extradite Ulfa's Anup Chetia by December

Guwahati: Jailed Ulfa general secretary Anup Chetia in Bangladesh would be extradited to India by December this year, Union Home Affairs joint secretary (North-East) Shambhu Singh said.

However, Singh regretted that Ulfa(I) C-in-C Paresh Baruah had failed to respond to repeated calls to come to the negotiation table. “He (Chetia alias Golap Baruah) will be here… by mid-December this year. As per our information it will take not longer than mid December,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of his meeting with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Singh said the government’s efforts for Chetia’s extradition had yielded positive results after Bangladesh signed an extradition treaty with New Delhi whereby both the countries have agreed to deport wanted ‘criminals’ lodged in each other’s jails.

Chetia’s participation in the government-Ulfa peace talks is considered essential as in the last tripartite dialogues in Delhi on 26 June, Chetia’s deportation was discussed with the Ulfa leaders pressing for his early extradition.

The proscribed insurgent outfit’s founder general secretary was in a Bangladesh jail at Kashimpur of Dhaka since 1997 after his arrest there on 21 December 1997 on charges of illegally entering Bangladesh using a forged passport, possessing illegal foreign currency and illegal arms.

After serving seven years sentence awarded by a Bangladesh court till 2003, the most sought-after militant by the government was shifted to the Kashimpur prison from Rajshahi Central Jail in June after he petitioned the Bangladesh government wanting to withdraw his earlier appeal for political asylum in that country and instead be sent back to his home in India.

On Ulfa(Independent) C-in-C Paresh Baruah returning to the main stream, Singh said the home ministry had approached Baruah many times to come to the negotiation table, but he has not yet responded.

“He wants to stay in China and is happy to make money smuggling arms. If he has this kind of attitude, how we can persuade him to sit in the negotiation table,” the Union Home Affairs official said.

Singh said the anti-talk NDFB (Sonbijit) has to be separated from the in-talk NDFB (Progressive) and NDFB (Ranjan Daimary) factions within this month and be kept in separate designated camps, he said, adding, “We will deal with them if they come out from there and indulge in their (subversive) activities”.

“If they refuse to segregate by September 30, we will definitely have action in the areas of their operation,” he said.

On the creation of separate states carved out of Assam as demanded by various ethnic groups, Singh said it was not feasible and viable for now though their demands for separate homeland was being looked into taking on board all those demanding and opposing the move before arriving at a decision.

Stating that the groups demanding a separate state have been asked to substantiate their demands, he said, “There has to be an agenda…no such thing now. The bridge has not yet been constructed, let the bridge be built than only a decision to whether cross it or not will be taken.”

“During our meeting with them we have told them that there is some criteria to attain statehood…..Question of viability arises in this context,” Singh said.

PTI