Extradition treaty takes effect

Extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India has become effective with the handover of documents to ratify the much-awaited pact.

The treaty will pave the way for exchange of convicts or under-trial criminals between the countries.

India can now take back ULFA leader Anup Chetia from Bangladesh. Bangladesh too can bring back fugitive crime lords such a Subrata Bain and Sazzad Hossain and put them on trial. They are currently held in the Tihar Jail of India.

Home secretary CQM Mustaq Ahmed and Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran signed and exchanged the documents to ratify the treaty.

Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir was present during the ceremony.

On Jan 28, home minister M.K Alamgir and his Indian counterpart Sushil Kumar Shinde had signed the treaty.

The Cabinet on Oct 7 endorsed the treaty.

Indian cabinet had already approved it.

The treaty will allow exchange of convicts sentenced for more than a year in prison but it will not be applicable to political prisoners and asylum seekers.

Both sides have the option to cancel the treaty in six-month notice.

The treaty, however, does not clearly specify the time frame within which a request to extradite a detainee must be resolved.

Assam's dissident leader Chetia, has been in Bangladeshi prison for more than a decade. He recently expressed his desire to go back to India though he had earlier applied for political asylum.

Chetia was arrested from Dhaka's Mohammadpur area on Dec 21, 1997.

A Bangladeshi court had ordered jail term for him on three counts of trespassing into Bangladesh, possessing foreign currency and satellite phone.

His jail term ended on Feb 25, 2007. But he could not be handed over to India due to the absence of an extradition treaty.

The Bangladeshi home ministry announced reward for 23 top terrorists in 2001. Subrata Bain the head of Seven Star Group an influential name in Bangladesh's underworld was among them.

He was arrested with firearms from Kolkata's Karaiya area in 2008 and was arrested under the Arms Act and illegal trespass. He faces numerous charges of murder and extortion in Bangladesh.