Congress, BJP claim credit for Anup Chetia extradition

The handing over of Anup Chetia, the founder general secretary of the United Liberation Front of Asom, to India has triggered a tug-of-war between the Congress government in Assam and the BJP government at New Delhi.

With an eye on the Assembly polls, both the BJP and the Congress are leaving no stone unturned in claiming credit for the militant leader’s extradition. The day the news broke, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi went on record saying that extradition of Mr Chetia could be made possible because of “his efforts and pressure” on the Central government. He even asked New Delhi to handover his custody to the state government at the earliest.

Mr Gogoi’s remarks were followed by a formal request from the state government to the home ministry. Mr Chetia is currently in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation in Delhi.

The Assam government has argued that since the Ulfa general secretary is wanted in a number of cases in the state, it is only appropriate that Mr Chetia should face the law in the state.

The hurried reaction of the CM forced the Central government for a counter-campaign by disclosing that Dhaka agreed to release Mr Chetia on request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The CBI got the custody of top Ulfa leader under the direct supervision of NSA Ajit Doval, security sources in the home ministry claimed. It is significant that successive governments had tried to get Mr Chetia deported from Bangladesh since his arrest in 1997. However, Dhaka rejected it on the pretext that the two countries did not have an extradition treaty. He was eventually handed over to New Delhi on Wednesday after he sent out a written application saying he wished to come back to India. It is said that security agencies persuaded Mr Chetia to withdraw his application to the authorities in Dhaka seeking political asylum in Bangladesh.