NEW DELHI, Nov 12 - ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia has been arrested in connection with a murder case registered in 1988 and produced before a �competent Court� which granted the CBI six days transit remand.
An official spokesman of the CBI on Thursday told newsmen that the CBI had arrested Golap Baruah alias Anup Chetia in a murder case of Assam Police registered on March 21, 1988.
The case was registered at the request of the Government of Assam, he said.
The CBI spokesman who was tight-lipped about the circumstances under which he was brought to Delhi from Dhaka, said that he was taken into custody by the CBI last evening at its headquarters. Today, he was produced before a competent court, which granted six days transit remand.
He will be taken to Guwahati within the remand period and produced before a regular CBI court, the spokesman said, amidst reports that Chetia�s wife and son along with a lawyer are likely to arrive here tomorrow.
The spokesman, when asked about the request of the Assam Government to hand over Chetia to their custody, said that the normal practice is that the State Government has to move the CBI court at Guwahati. It is for the court to decide, he said.
But the Assam Government has to appeal to the court to take him into custody,� he said.
�We have to produce him at the designated court in Guwahati,� he added.
The CBI spokesman, however, could not provide details about the case for which Chetia was arrested.
The CBI is probing the murder case of ex-councillor of Golaghat, Debokshi Dhar Choudhury. He was killed by ULFA on August 29, 1986. Chetia is alleged to be involved in its criminal conspiracy.
However, during the period, two sensational killings were carried out by ULFA. The first prominent killing by ULFA was on September 17, 1986, when it gunned down Kalipada Sen, an advocate in his house at Paltan Bazar in Guwahati. On October 15, 1988, former president of the Kamrup Chamber of Commerce, Giridharlal Harlalka was killed in Guwahati by ULFA.
Meanwhile, the CBI spokesman when asked about Chetia�s health condition, said that he was doing fine. Chetia was last evening examined by a team of doctors at the CBI headquarters.
The ULFA general secretary was reportedly questioned by a team of Intelligence Bureau officials in CBI custody, sources disclosed.
Meanwhile, in a related development, India is likely to release wanted criminal Nur Hossain wanted by Bangladesh. The Home Minister of Bangladesh today tweeted that murder accused Nur Hossain will be brought back to �Bangladesh in the same way as Anup Chetia returned to� India.
Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs disclosed that Nur Hossain was released from Kolkata prison this evening, after the West Bengal Government withdrew all charges against him. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina held a telephonic conversation after which Chetia was released.
