bdnews24.com New Delhi Correspondent
New Delhi, Dec 4 (bdnews24.com) – India on Friday formally announced arrest of Arabinda Rajkhowa, the chairman of the insurgent outfit United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), from near the country's border with Bangladesh at Dawki in its northeastern state of Meghalaya.
Rajkhowa, his wife and two children were detained by India's Border Security Force (BSF) near the border outpost at Dawki. Also detained with them were his personal bodyguard, the deputy commander-in-chief of the ULFA's military wing Raju Barua and a few others.
The ULFA has since 1979 been pursuing an armed rebellion against New Delhi with the professed objective of 'liberating' Assam, another state in northeastern India.
The BSF Inspector General Prithvi Rai said that the border guards had spotted Rajkhowa and others roaming near the India-Bangladesh border at around 1:15 a.m. on Friday. "They surrendered after being challenged by our men patrolling the border," he said.
Rajkhowa and others were later handed over to police in Assam.
Indian Government's Home Secretary G K Pillai told journalists in Delhi that Rajkhowa and others would be produced before a local court in Assam's main city Guwahati soon.
Indian government had last Wednesday announced the detention of Thadiyavantavide Nazeer and Shafaz, both operatives of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), by the BSF near the border with Bangladesh at Dawki itself.
Nazeer and Shafaz originally hailed from southern Indian state of Kerala and were wanted by India for their involvement in the terrorist attacks in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Indian government in New Delhi said that the ULFA leaders as well as the LeT operatives had been detained in Bangladesh and handed over to the BSF on the border later.
India and Bangladesh have not yet inked any bilateral extradition treaty. But Dhaka has recently accepted Delhi's proposal for a tacit understanding to track down and catch the fugitives of Indian law illegally staying in Bangladesh.
As per the understanding, Bangladeshi agencies would informally detain the insurgents and terrorists wanted by India, and hand over them to Indian BSF on the border instead of formally arresting them.
The tacit cooperation between Delhi and Dhaka had early last month resulted in the arrest of two ULFA leaders – its 'finance secretary' Chitrabon Hazarika and 'foreign secretary' Shashadhar Choudhury – by the BSF near the Indo-Bangla border in Tripura, another state in the northeastern region of India.
The ULFA had then alleged that Hazarika and Choudhury had in fact been picked up by some unidentified men from a residential area in Dhaka and later handed over to the BSF.
No official of the Bangladesh government has so far officially confirmed reports in Indian media stating that Rajkhowa had been detained in Dhaka or elsewhere in the country.
Home minister Sahara Khatun on Friday denied the arrest in Bangladesh of Rajkhowa, as reported in the Indian media.
Delhi has since long been conveying to Dhaka its concern over Indian insurgents and terrorists having bases in Bangladesh.
Indian security agencies had earlier handed over to their Bangladeshi counterparts the list of the leaders the ULFA and other insurgent outfits of the northeastern India, who had been suspected to be living in Dhaka and other cities in Bangladesh.
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs of the Indian government said that Dhaka's tacit cooperation in detaining the ULFA leaders and LeT terrorists was being seen in Delhi as a good gesture by Dhaka ahead of prime minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India later this month.
After the detention of the ULFA chairman and others, its military wing chief Paresh Barua is the only top leader of the outfit who is still absconding. Indian intelligence officials believe that Barua too was based in Dhaka, at least till recently.
In March 2008, Mohammed Hafijur Rehman and Din Mohammed, both prime accused in the Chittagong Arms Haul case, had confessed in the court that the 10 truck-load of weapons and ammunition that was seized in 2004 had in fact been meant for the ULFA. Rehman also revealed that Barua, himself, had supervised the arms-smuggling operation.
It is not clear if Barua is still in Bangladesh or fled to any other neighbouring country in the wake of the secret crackdown by Dhaka on Indian insurgents and terrorists.
Sources said that several other leaders of smaller insurgent outfits of northeastern India had also been detained in Bangladesh over the past few days and Delhi would soon formally announce their arrest by the BSF near the India-Bangladesh border.
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