India is doing its best to track down two fugitive killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and extradite them to Bangladesh, Indian Home Secretary RK Singh said yesterday after two days of talks in New Delhi with his Bangladesh counterpart.
"We will be happy to apprehend these killers. We have asked for more information because we have not been able to locate them," Singh said at a joint news conference with Bangladesh Home Secretary Manzur Hossain.
Bangladesh, Manzur said, is confident that India will be able to apprehend the killers once they are given more information and hand them over to Dhaka.
He said according to information available in Dhaka the two killers are hiding in India.
A joint statement issued after the home-secretary level talks said, "Bangladesh has sought the assistance of India in tracking, apprehending and handing over the killers of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Indian side has assured of all possible cooperation and sought additional information in this regard."
It said, "Both sides agreed that Extradition Treaty, under consideration by both the governments, may be finalised at an early date."
Bangladesh believes Capt Abdul Mazed and Risaldar Moslehuddin -- two of the six fugitive convicted killers of Bangabandhu -- are hiding in India. Dhaka wants to execute their death sentence.
The four other fugitive killers, also sentenced to death, are Khandakar Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haque Dalim, Nur Chowdhury, AM Rashed Chowdhury. Bangladesh has no specific information about the whereabouts of these ex-army officers amid reports that they may be hiding in the USA, Canada, Pakistan, Kenya and Hong Kong.
In November 2009, the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences of 12 killers of Bangabandhu and five of them were executed on January 28 last year. One fugitive died abroad.
The Indian home secretary said Dhaka has assured New Delhi of extraditing Anup Chetia, general secretary of United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) at the "earliest". Chetia has been held in Bangladesh jail since his arrest in 1997.
Hossain said in reply to question that legal issues have prevented Dhaka from deporting Chetia. He hoped that the issues would be resolved and Chetia would be handed over to India soon.
Hossain said Bangladesh will not tolerate anti-India activities on its soil.
Dhaka is keen to further improve security cooperation with New Delhi by exploring new areas for mutual benefit of the two countries, he said.
"Anti-India forces are not active in Bangladesh. We don't allow them to do anything like that," Hossain said.
Singh said India was happy with the status and the steps being taken by Bangladesh about Chetia.
Hossain declined to comment on India's decision to go ahead with the Tipaimukh multipurpose power generation project in Churachandrapur district of Manipur state as reflected in the signing of the Promoters Agreement between the state and the federal governments last month.
"I don't have information about this. It is an old issue. So, I cannot comment on it," he said.
The joint statement said both sides agreed to operationalise the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty signed during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September to facilitate handing over wanted persons in each other's territories.
India and Bangladesh also agreed to operationalise the agreements on transferring prisoners and combating organised crimes and illegal drug trafficking that was signed during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January 2010, the joint statement said.
Both sides agreed to implement the Coordinated Border Management Plan signed during the visit of Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram to Bangladesh in July 2011 and finalise an extradition treaty at an early date.
The meeting noted the firing incidents have considerably reduced along the international border. They agreed that utmost restraint would be exercised to avoid human casualty.
The next home secretary-level talks will be held in Dhaka, though no date has been set.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 04:24 AM GMT+06:00 (106 weeks ago)
Despite a golden chance to raise the issue of Tipaimukh dam our home secretary missed the opportunity. Hossain inability to do the right thing in right time testify that our high officials never try to square the circle. They attend the meeting only with their routine work. National interest should be raised in bilateral meeting, but our inexperienced high-official shrugged it off as old issue. Are they eligible to gig the secretary-level post for nothing?
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 09:59 AM GMT+06:00 (106 weeks ago)
This is the highest foreign policy achievement of Hasina and her foreign ministry as that was their only agenda for the last three years. Now govt. can keep their mouth shut about Tapaimikh, Teesta and other vital issues that matter to the people. All our political leaders job is to look for their family and party's interest only, not the interest of the people who put them to power. The govt. can now sit back and relax as the most important demand has been met by India.