Guwahati: ULFA ‘general secretary’ Anup Chetia, recently extradited by Bangladesh, was today granted bail by a court here in two TADA cases but will remain in jail as some other cases against him are pending. Special judge Alokesh Bhattacharya allowed Chetia, alias Golap Baruah, to go on bail by submitting a bail bond of Rs 5 lakh and security of the same amount.
The plea was made for Chetia’s bail for facilitating his trial and for him to participate in the ongoing peace process. Additional Public Prosecutor said the Assam government had no objection to Chetia being granted bail.
He will, however, not walk out as there are a number of cases against him. Another TADA case related to the ULFA leader would be heard tomorrow followed by an Indian Penal Court (IPC) case the day after. Chetia had in his first interaction with the media earlier this month said that he was for peace talks between ULFA and the Centre.
Following his extradition by Bangladesh on November 11, Chetia was arrested by CBI in Delhi in connection with a murder incident at Golaghat in Assam. Chetia was in Bangladesh jail since his arrest by that country’s police in 1997 on charges of cross-border intrusion, carrying fake passports and illegally keeping foreign currencies.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had said that the state government has all along been pursuing with the Centre for repatriation of Chetia and now since he has been repatriated he should be associated with the ongoing peace talks.
