Bangladesh today hinted that detained United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) leader Anup Chetia would soon be handed over to India but insisted that no Indian insurgent group is operating from its soil.
"It's happening. You will know when you get him (Chetia). You have already got a few. Everybody will be brought to justice," Bangladesh high commissioner Tariq Ahmed Karim told reporters here.
The Ulfa general secretary is under detention in Bangladesh after serving a jail term. He was convicted for travelling with fake documents and jailed for four years but has not been handed over to India for lack of an extradition treaty.
Karim hoped that India will reciprocate the gesture by handing over some criminals wanted by his country.
"We hope that India will cooperate with us in getting hold of some wanted criminals of Bangladesh, who are hiding here," he said.
On the status of an extradition treaty, the envoy refused to divulge much and only said, "the Indian prime minister (Manmohan Singh) and home minister (P Chidambaram) are happy with the way the cooperation is going on. We cannot divulge all the details. Sometimes it may create a problem."
Asked about the presence of camps of Indian insurgents in that country, he said, "As far as my information goes, there are no such camps in Bangladesh. Action has been taken very seriously." Earlier, Dhaka had "facilitated" the arrest of five top Ulfa leaders, including its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa, and handed them over to India.
Besides Rajkhowa, Ulfa 'deputy commander-in-chief' Raju Baruah, 'foreign secretary' Sasha Choudhury, and 'finance secretary' Chitraban Hazarika are in jail in Assam.
During Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's India visit last month, the two countries signed three pacts - Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Agreement on Combating International Terrorism, Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking.
Describing Hasina's visit as "game-changing", Karim said, "The game that India and Bangladesh play in their bilateral relations has changed now. Now it is that of friendship, cooperation and development.
"We have resolved to cooperate against terrorism. We do not want to harbour any elements which are against the interest of both the countries. We have made it very, very clear and our actions have demonstrated it."
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