ULFA leader arrested in Bangladesh

DHAKA: Bangladesh has arrested ULFA leader Ranju Chowdhury from a northern district, months after the chief of the separatist outfit Arbinda Rajkhowa was handed over to Indian authorities.

Ranju Chowdhury alias Rattan Sarkar, a leader of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was arrested yesterday from northern Mymensingh district, local sources said.

The elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) troops arrested Chowdhury as he was being treated at a health facility in Mymensingh, local newsmen familiar with the case said on phone.

Chowdury hailed from Shilchar in Asom but was hiding in Bangladesh as his in laws are based in the frontier Sherpur district in northern Bangladesh.

RAB officials, however, declined to confirm the report with its chief Hasan Mahmud Khondker saying "I have no idea".

"We have heard that he (Chowdhury) has been arrested but have nothing in details to tell you. RAB has not informed us..." a senior official of Mymensingh police said.

The report came months after Dhaka is believed to have extended hands to India in capturing ULFA chief Rajkhowa.

Rajkhowa was reportedly picked up from Bangladeshi territory along with several accomplices as he was hiding in Bangladesh.

Dhaka had at that time declined the report of his arrest and his subsequent handing over to India.

Another ULFA stalwart Anup Chetia was arrested from Dhaka during the past 1996-2001 Awami League regime and still is in "security custody" despite the expiry of his jail term for cross border intrusion.