Bangladesh may extradite separatist ULFA leader Anup Chetia to India under a special mechanism beyond an existing extradition treaty, officials said today ahead of the bilateral meeting of home secretaries here.
"He (Chetia) could be sent back to India under a mechanism beyond the extradition treaty," additional secretary of Bangladesh's Home ministry Kamaluddin Ahmed told newsmen.
He added that Chetia issue had nothing to do with the case of Nur Hossain, a Bangladeshi and main suspect of multiple murders who was arrested by West Bengal police recently as he fled the country to evade justice.
"They (India) reassured us that Nur Hossain will be returned to Bangladesh on completion of due legal procedure on the their side," he said.
At a meeting held between additional secretary of Bangladesh Home Ministry Ahmed and joint secretary of Indian Home ministry Sambhu Singh, the two sides reviewed issues of bilateral concern. Tomorrow Indian Home Secretary Anil Goswami and his Bangladesh counterpart Mozammel Haque Khan will hold talks.
They will discuss issues like cooperation in counter- terror initiatives, eviction of Indian insurgent groups from Bangladesh, curbing illegal cross-border movement of people and goods besides others.
Ahmed said New Delhi earlier sent a list of 879 wanted Indians saying they were hiding in Bangladesh while "we told them today that only 12 of them were found to be hiding in our country".
Dhaka too earlier gave a list 25 wanted Bangladeshis to India while the two sides today discussed modus operandi for exchange of these wanted people hiding in each other's country, he said.
He also said that the Bangladesh side reassured Delhi of its pledges not to allow its soil to be used by any terrorist or militant forces as the issue of militancy was discussed in the meeting.
According to Ahmed the issue of human trafficking largely featured the meeting when Bangladesh proposed for inking a deal for intensified cooperation to prevent cross-border child and women trafficking.
"We expect the MOU to be signed during the secretary level talks," he said.
The ULFA founder general secretary, Chetia, currently in jail in Bangladesh, is wanted for murder, abductions and extortion in India.
He sought political asylum in Bangladesh thrice in 2005, 2008 and in 2011 after Bangladesh police arrested him in December 1997 and was subsequently handed down seven years of jail terms by two courts for cross-border intrusion, carrying fake passports and illegally keeping foreign currencies.
Despite the expiry of his term, Chetia was in jail under a 2003 High Court directive asking authorities to keep him in safe custody until a decision was taken on his asylum plea.
India wants Chetia back so that he could join other ULFA leaders in the peace process with the government.
