Uncertainty over return of three Assam detenus in Bangladesh

Uncertainty hangs over the extradition of three Assam detainees in Bangladesh, although top ULFA leader Anup Chetia has been handed over to India.

Assam Tribune reports that two of the three have already completed their prison terms.

The detenues include two ULFA members currently being held in jails in Bangladesh.

Pradeep Roy, a self-styled second lieutenant of the ULFA, was arrested by Bangladeshi security agencies on July 17, 2010, while another ULFA cadre, Laden Rabha alias Siddheswar Rabha, was nabbed in 2004.

Roy, according to a source quoted by the Assam Tribune, hails from Gauripur, in Dhubri district, and is serving life imprisonment in the Kishoreganj Jail.

Laden, who hails from Goalpara, has completed his prison term but is still being held in the Sherpur Jail.

The third detainee, Shamboo Mooshahary, hailing from Golaghat, too, is being held captive, though his sentence ended in February, 2015. He is now believed to be in Sherpur Jail.

Shambhu had no criminal antecedents in India but was caught in Bangladesh for illegal entry.

His family members had moved the State Government but to no avail. The Assam State Human Rights Commission and the State Home Department, too, had reportedly stepped in. 

But no breakthrough has reportedly been made till date, the Assam Tribune said.

It was through a Red Cross International initiative that Shambhu’s family learnt of his whereabouts. He has already undergone 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and is awaiting extradition for the last two years.

The Assam Tribune says that since the persons in question are not political heavyweights, their deportation may take longer than expected.

Records in the Ministry of External Affairs state that, as on May 23, 2016, as many as 60 fugitives have been extradited by foreign governments to India (since 2002).

Chetia was the first person to be extradited (deported) from Bangladesh (58th overall) after the Extradition Treaty between the countries came into effect. He was also accompanied by two of his prison mates.

Criminal lawyer Bijon Kumar Mahajan, who is also the counsel for Anup Chetia, said when contacted that these ULFA cadres should get equal treatment like other extremist leaders of the North East region, deported or pushed back at different times.

Rabha’s extradition to India should be easier than Roy’s, as the latter is serving a life term under Bangladesh’s penal law.

“Because of the newly signed Extradition Treaty, even Roy can also be extradited to India to serve the remaining part of the sentence in Indian jail. International human rights body like Amnesty International has much to do in this regard,” Mahajan told ' Assam Tribune'.