Dhaka, July 14: Indian and Bangladeshi border forces today exchanged lists of wanted “criminals and terrorists” believed to be hiding or detained in each other’s territories, with the BSF demanding that Dhaka hand over 77 people including three top ULFA leaders.
At the end of three-day BSF-BDR Director General-level talks here, Border Security Force chief M L Kumawat said India expected Bangladesh to immediately hand over the “Indian criminals” it has already arrested to manifest a “gesture of friendship and cooperation”.
BSF gave a list of 77 Indian “criminals and terrorists” some of whom were also wanted under Interpol’s red corner notice, he said at a joint press conference along with his Bangladesh Rifles counterpart Major General Mainul Islam.
The list contains names of ULFA leaders Arabinda Rajkhowa, Paresh Barua, Anup Chetia and leaders of other such insurgent groups, including Jiban Singh of Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and Ranjit Deb Barma of All Tripura Tiger Force.
The BDR gave a list of 1,227 people, mostly gangsters and criminals but two of them, Morsalin and Mostakim, were said to be operatives of Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (HuJI) and wanted for their role in launching an abortive grenade attack on incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2004.
The BDR chief said the two absconding Bangladeshis were now detained in Tihar Jail in Delhi and urged the BSF to take steps for their extradition along with others.
–Agencies–