GUWAHATI, June 5 � Lodged in Dhaka Jail for nearly 17 years, United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) leader Anup Chetia might not be the only discussed name for extradition from Bangladesh.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to reach Bangladesh tomorrow, a few more members of the banned outfits from Assam presently lodged in Bangladesh jails could also be discussed.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj recently said that Chetia will soon be extradited to India.
Barring Chetia, four more members of different banned outfits from Assam are presently lodged in Bangladeshi jails, top official sources told The Assam Tribune. Among these include a suspected National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) cadre by the name of Shambhu Mooshahary and three ULFA cadres (excluding Anup Chetia), the sources said.
The Bangladesh government has been in touch with its counterpart in India and had shared information about these guys from time to time. These militants were cornered in the Bangladesh territory and jailed subsequently.
Refusing to share the actual status of these cadres, a senior Assam Police official, however, said that the case of the NDFB cadre could fit in the scheme of things if the extradition issue is holistically discussed.
Officially, however, there has been no correspondence about the suspected NDFB cadre with the Assam Police and the matter came to the fore through the Red Cross International.
Significantly, the NDFB cadre in question has already undergone a sentence of 10 years in Bangladesh�s Kashimpur Jail and had also made an appeal for his extradition. Shambhu was reportedly caught in Bangladesh with a sizeable amount of cash some 11 years back.
The Red Cross International had about a year back delivered a message to the family members of the NDFB cadre, who hails from a remote village in Golaghat.
Family members of Mooshahary when contacted said, �We hope he is allowed to come back. Now that he has served his sentence, we urge the Indian government to facilitate his release.�
