This Article is From Dec 24, 2015

Anup Chetia, Top ULFA Leader, Released From Jail In Assam

Anup Chetia, Top ULFA Leader, Released From Jail In Assam

Anup Chetia was handed over to India by Bangladesh last month (File photo)

Guwahati: ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia has been released from the Guwahati Central Jail, just hours after he was granted bail in the last of the four cases registered against him.

Mr Chetia, however, is not allowed to leave Assam without the court's permission.

"The court granted the bail with conditions that Chetia cannot hamper the process of investigation and he cannot leave the jurisdiction of the Special Judicial Magistrate without prior permission," his advocate Bijon Mahajan said.

"Half of my life I have spent fighting for people and my community. Now the rest of my life I look forward to working for socio-cultural development, peace and progress of the Assamese society," Mr Chetia said while inviting the media to Dergaon, Assam, his birthplace, where he would be going now.

Mr Chetia was handed over to India by Bangladesh last month where he was in jail since his arrest by the country's police in 1997 on charges of cross-border intrusion, carrying fake passports and illegally keeping foreign currencies.

After his deportation, he was arrested under four Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA cases - one with the Central Bureau of Investigation and three with the Assam Police. He got bail in all of them, paving the way for him possibly joining the ULFA peace talks which are in a very advance stage.

Earlier, the pro-talk faction of ULFA had made it clear that they are not taking the talk further unless Mr Chetia is released.

Both the Centre and the Assam Government did not oppose his bails.
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