ULFA leader Anup Chetia handed over to India

The Indian government could not extradite him earlier due to the lack of an extradition treaty between India and Bangladesh.

3 min readGuwahatiNov 12, 2015 12:15 AM IST First published on: Nov 12, 2015 at 12:15 AM IST

Anup Chetia

In a major breakthrough, ULFA leader Anup Chetia was handed over by Bangladesh to India Wednesday morning — after several attempts over the past two decades to secure his custody.

Government sources said Chetia was handed over after Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally intervened in the matter. National Security Advisor A K Doval also played a major role, sources said.

A founding member and general secretary of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Chetia’s return to India would “considerably weaken” fugitive ULFA rebel leader Paresh Barua’s position and give a boost to the Indian government’s talks with the ULFA faction led by Arabinda Rajkhowa, which could be endorsed by Chetia, government sources said.

PM @narendramodi spoke to Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina. He wished PM Hasina on Diwali & thanked her for the help in fighting terrorism.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) November 11, 2015

“It would definitely be a boost to the talks with ULFA and further weaken Barua’s position. Whatever little hope Barua had of some support from his community, Chetia being from the same community and being the original founder of ULFA weakens Barua that much further,” said a government source.

“Talks with ULFA have been going on, and should be completed soon. But Chetia’s presence and endorsement of the talks was important for Assam,” the source added.

Barua, who headed the ULFA’s armed wing since its inception in 1979, had two years ago declared his faction as ULFA (Independent) after the original group headed by chairman Rajkhowa entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government.

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“While India has been asking Bangladesh for Chetia for the past two decades, an intensive pursuit has been on over the last five years. While there is no formal extradition treaty between India and Bangladesh yet, the CBI had managed to secure an Interpol Red Corner Notice against Chetia, who is wanted for murder, abduction and extortion cases in India,” said the source.

Also known as Golap Barua, Chetia hails from Jerai Gaon in Tinsukia district of Assam. He was arrested in March 1991, but the then Assam chief minister Hiteshwar Saikia released him from jail, following which he fled India.

In December 1997, Chetia was arrested by the Bangladesh police and subsequently sentenced to seven years by two courts for cross-border intrusion, carrying fake passports and illegal possession of foreign currency.

Chetia sought political asylum in Bangladesh thrice in 2005, 2008 and in 2011 after his 1997 arrest, but no final decision was taken by the Bangladesh government. After his prison sentence was over, he was being held in preventive detention as per a 2003 High Court order in Bangladesh hearing his plea for asylum.

In 2013, Chetia wrote to some Bangladesh media houses stating, “The government of India has repeatedly failed in its attempt to extradite me to India. But now I have decided to go back to Assam on my own initiative. How long can I live in such a state of uncertainty?”

Chetia also filed a written application with the Bangladesh government stating his desire to return to India.