Anup Chetia ( Assamese: অনুপ চেতিয়া) (real name Golap Baruah also known as Sunil Baruah, Bhaijan or Ahmed) is the General Secretary of the banned

United Liberation Front of Assam The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is an armed separatist insurgent organisation, that operates in the Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an independent sovereign nation state of Assam for the indigenous Assamese people throu ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. He is also one of the founder leaders of the group. He was born at Jerai Gaon in

Tinsukia Tinsukia (Pron: ˌtɪnˈsʊkiə) is an industrial city. It is situated north-east of Guwahati and away from the border with Arunachal Pradesh. Tinsukia serves as the headquarters of the Moran Autonomous Council, which is the governing counci ...

district of

Arrest

Chetia was first arrested in March, 1991 in Assam but was released by then Chief Minister

Hiteswar Saikia Hiteswar Saikia (3 October 1934 – 22 April 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the 10th chief minister of Assam for two terms, firstly from 28 February 1983 to 23 December 1985 and then from 30 June 1991 to 22 April 1996. He was th ...

. Later on 21 December 1997 he was again arrested in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

under the Foreigners Act and the Passports Act for illegally carrying foreign currencies and a satellite phone. He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by a Bangladeshi court and was being held at Kashimpur Jail in the outskirts of Dhaka.

Charges

Chetia was charged with: * Illegally entering Bangladesh using a forged passport * Possession of illegal foreign currency from 16 countries * Illegal possession of arms. He was also wanted by the Assam Police for various cases including killing, kidnapping and extortion.

Extradition

Since his arrest in 1997, the Government of India has asked Bangladesh to extradite Chetia. The request was refused by Bangladesh on the ground that the two countries do not have an extradition treaty. However, India is still hopeful that the

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

government would accede to the request in view of its tough resolve against terrorism. The '' Union Home Affairs joint secretary (north east)'' has recently said that Chetia will most probably be handed over to the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

by the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

, by December 2013. After the 15th India-Bangladesh Home Secretary-level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh Home Affairs Secretary Mozammel Haque Khan has confirmed that Bangladesh has agreed to hand over Anup Chetia to India, which will send back Nur Hossain, prime accused in a case of seven murders in Narayanganj.

Seeking Political Asylum

On 7 December 2008, Chetia had written to the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

urging it to grant him refugee status and political asylum in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. In a letter to

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

, head of the Geneva-based

UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...

, Chetia pleaded that he had already completed seven years of imprisonment and hence was no longer a convict to be held in a jail.

ULFA The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is an armed separatist insurgent organisation, that operates in the Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an independent sovereign nation state of Assam for the indigenous Assamese people thro ...

also appealed for political asylum in a safe country.

Present status

Although Chetia was the General Secretary of

, political analysts in the region doubt his current influence within the organization. On 11 November 2015, Anup was handed over by

Bangladesh Government The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the le ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Anup Chetia has been released from the Guahati jail on bail on 24 December 2015.

References

External links

ULFA–I appeals to Hasina not to use Chetia’s extradition as a bargaining tool
'' The Sentinel''
ULFA urges Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to give honourable and decent repatriation to Anup Chetia
''

India Today Group Living Media India Limited, d.b.a. India Today Group, is an Indian media conglomerate based in New Delhi, India. It has interests in magazines, newspapers, books, radio, television, printing and the Internet. History India Today Group was f ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Chetia, Anup People from Tinsukia district Living people 1967 births Prisoners and detainees from Assam Indian people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of Bangladesh ULFA members Insurgency in Northeast India