India expects handover of Chetia, Paresh
Mystery surrounds whereabouts of ULFA leaders
The detained ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) general secretary Anup Chetia may be formally handed over to a team of Indian security officials comprising CBI and Assam Police, highly placed sources said.They said that during Sheikh Hasina's recent meeting with Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in Thimpu, Bhutan on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit, it was conveyed that Dhaka should keep up the pressure on the militants of the North-Eastern states of India.
Anup Chetia's case, the sources assumed, is different from other militant leaders as he was officially detained by the law enforcement agencies and had undergone prison term in the country. So like other top militant leaders, he (Chetia) cannot be handed over secretly to Indian authorities, they added.
Though the governments of Bangladesh and India had signed a treaty to hand over 'criminals who have completed jail terms in each other countries, Chetia's application for political asylum pending before the UNHRC is considered another hurdle.
The detained ULFA general secretary has completed his jail term in Bangladesh and currently under 'protective custody'. Dhaka has been maintaining that his application for political asylum is pending a decision.After a day of confusion over detention of ULFA chief Paresh Barua and handing over of detained general secretary Anup Chetia, the Ministry of Home Affairs denied both the reports.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai told newsmen that the Union Government has no report of detention of the elusive commander-in-chief. He further denied that Chetia was handed over to Indian authorities by Bangladesh.The Government of India has no report of arrest of ULFA chief, said Pillai, while dismissing reports in a section of the media."We have no information regarding arrest of ULFA chief in Bangladesh, as reported in the media," a spokesman of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said earlier in the day.
The report of arrest of Barua caught officials in the Home Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry by surprise. The Embassy in Dhaka was contacted, as intelligence agencies got busy verifying the reports.According to news report that appeared in national dailies, the ULFA leader was apprehended by the Bangladeshi security agencies about 12 days ago, when he was crossing over to Bangladesh via Myanmar border after visiting Chinese Yunnan province.
Barua was reportedly held at a place near Teknaf in Bangladesh, when he was said to be on a purchasing spree of arms and ammunition for his outfit from Narinco Arms factory.The news report, quoting sources said India expected Bangladesh to hand him over as soon once they finish interrogating him. There were also reports that Barua was handed over to India and was formally arrested at Bangalore from a Bangkok bound flight. However, it was later denied.
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was formed on April 7, 1979, by Bhimakanta Buragohain, Rajiv Rajkonwar alias Arabinda Rajkhowa, Golap Baruah alias Anup Chetia, Samiran Gogoi alias Pradip Gogoi, Bhadreshwar Gohain and Paresh Baruah at the Rang Ghar in Sibsagar (Assam) to establish a 'sovereign socialist Assam' through an armed struggle, the South Asia Terrorism Portal says.
The ULFA has a clearly partitioned political and military wing. Paresh Barua heads the military wing as the outfit's 'commander-in-chief'. Top ULFA leaders, including chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, deputy chief Raju Baruah and political ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain, are lodged in the Guwahati jail, with only a handful of top leaders, including Paresh Barua, elusive at the moment.
The outlawed ULFA today dubbed as "misinformation campaign" reports of the arrest of its 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua in Bangladesh.In an e-mail statement, ULFA 'publicity wing in-charge' Anu Borgohain alleged that the spread of such rumours was a "conspiracy by the government to create confusion in the minds of the people.
"Neither Paresh Barua nor any other leader of the group has been arrested in any country. They are safe in their respective places where they are currently staying and are discharging their duties accordingly," he said.The ULFA also appealed to the people not to be influenced by such misinformation campaign which the "authorities spread with a section of the e-media".
The buzz regarding Barua's arrest in Bangladesh was dismissed as a rumour by both intelligence and police sources here along with Union Home Secretary G K Pillai in New Delhi.
Anup Chetia's case, the sources assumed, is different from other militant leaders as he was officially detained by the law enforcement agencies and had undergone prison term in the country. So like other top militant leaders, he (Chetia) cannot be handed over secretly to Indian authorities, they added.
Though the governments of Bangladesh and India had signed a treaty to hand over 'criminals who have completed jail terms in each other countries, Chetia's application for political asylum pending before the UNHRC is considered another hurdle.
The detained ULFA general secretary has completed his jail term in Bangladesh and currently under 'protective custody'. Dhaka has been maintaining that his application for political asylum is pending a decision.After a day of confusion over detention of ULFA chief Paresh Barua and handing over of detained general secretary Anup Chetia, the Ministry of Home Affairs denied both the reports.
Union Home Secretary G K Pillai told newsmen that the Union Government has no report of detention of the elusive commander-in-chief. He further denied that Chetia was handed over to Indian authorities by Bangladesh.The Government of India has no report of arrest of ULFA chief, said Pillai, while dismissing reports in a section of the media."We have no information regarding arrest of ULFA chief in Bangladesh, as reported in the media," a spokesman of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said earlier in the day.
The report of arrest of Barua caught officials in the Home Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry by surprise. The Embassy in Dhaka was contacted, as intelligence agencies got busy verifying the reports.According to news report that appeared in national dailies, the ULFA leader was apprehended by the Bangladeshi security agencies about 12 days ago, when he was crossing over to Bangladesh via Myanmar border after visiting Chinese Yunnan province.
Barua was reportedly held at a place near Teknaf in Bangladesh, when he was said to be on a purchasing spree of arms and ammunition for his outfit from Narinco Arms factory.The news report, quoting sources said India expected Bangladesh to hand him over as soon once they finish interrogating him. There were also reports that Barua was handed over to India and was formally arrested at Bangalore from a Bangkok bound flight. However, it was later denied.
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was formed on April 7, 1979, by Bhimakanta Buragohain, Rajiv Rajkonwar alias Arabinda Rajkhowa, Golap Baruah alias Anup Chetia, Samiran Gogoi alias Pradip Gogoi, Bhadreshwar Gohain and Paresh Baruah at the Rang Ghar in Sibsagar (Assam) to establish a 'sovereign socialist Assam' through an armed struggle, the South Asia Terrorism Portal says.
The ULFA has a clearly partitioned political and military wing. Paresh Barua heads the military wing as the outfit's 'commander-in-chief'. Top ULFA leaders, including chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, deputy chief Raju Baruah and political ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain, are lodged in the Guwahati jail, with only a handful of top leaders, including Paresh Barua, elusive at the moment.
The outlawed ULFA today dubbed as "misinformation campaign" reports of the arrest of its 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua in Bangladesh.In an e-mail statement, ULFA 'publicity wing in-charge' Anu Borgohain alleged that the spread of such rumours was a "conspiracy by the government to create confusion in the minds of the people.
"Neither Paresh Barua nor any other leader of the group has been arrested in any country. They are safe in their respective places where they are currently staying and are discharging their duties accordingly," he said.The ULFA also appealed to the people not to be influenced by such misinformation campaign which the "authorities spread with a section of the e-media".
The buzz regarding Barua's arrest in Bangladesh was dismissed as a rumour by both intelligence and police sources here along with Union Home Secretary G K Pillai in New Delhi.
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