 "Ulfa leader Anup Chetia handed over to India by Bangladesh")
Anup Chetia, a United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) leader and a fugitive for over two decades, was on Wednesday handed over to India by Bangladesh. This is a significant development that comes close on the heels of deportation of Mumbai underworld don Chhota Rajan from Indonesia.
Chetia, 48, the founder general secretary of the banned Ulfa, is wanted for killings, abductions, bank robberies and extortion activities.
The insurgent, whose actual name is Golap Barua, was handed over by Bangladesh to Indian officials this morning at the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and through active involvement of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, highly-placed sources told PTI here.
The Sheikh Hasina government, finally, decided to repatriate him following a written application from Chetia that he was "keen to return to India", the sources said.
"The decision was personally taken by Sheikh Hasina in line with her policy of not allowing anti-India forces to operate from Bangladeshi soil," a source said.
The significant development comes days after the deportation of Chhota Rajan to India, one of country's most-wanted criminals, who was on the run for 27 years.
Chetia was in Bangladesh ever since he fled India in early 1990s. He was arrested in March, 1991, but the then Assam Chief Minister Hiteshwar Saikia released him from jail, following which he fled from India, official sources said.
Significantly, Chetia had been arrested in Bangladesh on December 21, 1997, during Hasina's first term as prime minister. He had been arrested by Dhaka police under the Foreigners' Act and Passports Act and charged with unlawful entry into Bangladesh and for carrying illegal foreign currencies, firearms and satellite phone. Chetia had been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. However, on completion of the jail term, he preferred not to be released and sought political asylum.
Chetia, 48, the founder general secretary of the banned Ulfa, is wanted for killings, abductions, bank robberies and extortion activities.
The insurgent, whose actual name is Golap Barua, was handed over by Bangladesh to Indian officials this morning at the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and through active involvement of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, highly-placed sources told PTI here.
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India has repeatedly demanded Chetia’s deportation for over two decades but successive governments in Bangladesh had been refusing to co-operate citing non-existence of an extradition treaty.
The Sheikh Hasina government, finally, decided to repatriate him following a written application from Chetia that he was "keen to return to India", the sources said.
"The decision was personally taken by Sheikh Hasina in line with her policy of not allowing anti-India forces to operate from Bangladeshi soil," a source said.
The significant development comes days after the deportation of Chhota Rajan to India, one of country's most-wanted criminals, who was on the run for 27 years.
Chetia was in Bangladesh ever since he fled India in early 1990s. He was arrested in March, 1991, but the then Assam Chief Minister Hiteshwar Saikia released him from jail, following which he fled from India, official sources said.
Significantly, Chetia had been arrested in Bangladesh on December 21, 1997, during Hasina's first term as prime minister. He had been arrested by Dhaka police under the Foreigners' Act and Passports Act and charged with unlawful entry into Bangladesh and for carrying illegal foreign currencies, firearms and satellite phone. Chetia had been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. However, on completion of the jail term, he preferred not to be released and sought political asylum.