India, Bangladesh discuss ways to extradite Chetia
By-Vishwa Mohon,Published in TOI-187.2013
Five months after both the countries signed an extradition treaty agreeing to deport each other's wanted criminals, India and Bangladesh on Thursday discussed the modalities of deportation of the banned outfit ULFA's general secretary Anup Chetia who has been in a Dhaka jail since 1997.
The matter was discussed on the opening day of the home secretary-level talks when a joint working group of both the countries also took a call on handing over two Bangladeshi criminals — Subrata Bain and Sajjad Hossain — in exchange for Chetia.
It is learnt that Chetia may be handed over to India any day after conclusion of the home secretary-level talks on Friday. The ULFAgeneral secretary is likely to be handed over to the Assam Police which has been probing a number of cases against him.
It is expected that Chetia will first be brought here in an Indian aircraft that will be sent to Dhaka to hand over the Bangladeshi criminals Bain and Hossain. The duo was involved in attacks targeting the ruling Awami League leaders in Bangladesh. Bain is also an accused in the grenade attack on a rally of Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina in 2004. Hossain is currently lodged here in the Tihar Central Jail.
Sources said that the government would take lenient approach in treating the outfit's general secretary after his deportation to India.
They indicated that the Assam Police would not oppose Chetia's bail application once he is back and tried for pending cases in the court. He would be treated like other key ULFA leaders, including the outfit's chairman Arbinda Rajkhowa who has joined talks with the government. The Assam Police did not oppose bail pleas of eight senior ULFA leaders, including Rajkhowa, when they decided to join the ongoing peace talks with the government, they added.
Rajkhowa and others had been handed over to Indian agencies in a closely guarded operation on Indo-Bangla border in December, 2009.
"There will be more clarity on the modalities of Chetia's deportation once home secretaries of both the countries come face to face during concluding round of the talks on Friday," said an official, adding a joint statement is expected to be signed at the end of the two-day talks.
The joint working group, comprising officials of both the countries, also discussed a number of other issues on Thursday. While the Indian side raised its concern over pushing of fake Indian currency notes (FICNs) from the other side, the Bangladeshi delegation expressed its annoyance over incidents of border firings in which a number of civilians were killed by Border Security Force (BSF).
The 12-member Bangladeshi delegation, led by the country's home secretary C Q K Mustaq, also pressed for ratification of the 1974 land boundary agreement between the two countries to expedite the exchange of enclaves.
The issues concerning execution of various pacts — Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Agreement on Combating Organized Crime and Illegal Drug Trafficking - were also discussed by the joint working group.
