India To Use MLAT For Repatriation Of Ulfa Leader In UK 

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India To Use MLAT For Repatriation Of Ulfa Leader In UK 
India To Use MLAT For Repatriation Of Ulfa Leader In UK 

India will move the UK for the prosecution of Ulfa (Independent) chairman Mukul Hazarika alias Abhizeet Asom, under the mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT).

Hazarika is currently a doctor based at Billingham in England.

According to official sources the ministry of home affairs is planning on routing the request through the ministry of external affairs in order to execute a non-bailable arrest warrant that has been issued against the Ulfa (I) leader by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in July this year.

The official said that the home ministry will be making the request for Hazarika’s transfer from the UK under Article 11 (1)(d) of the 1995 treaty between the two countries via the ministry of external affairs since it is the nodal authority for seeking and providing legal assistance under the treaty  .

Agreement Allows Transfer of Custody  

A clause in India-UK treaty states that it can be used in criminal investigations which are seeking “transfer of persons, including persons in custody, for the purpose of assisting in investigations or giving evidence”.

The source noted that the Indian agencies considered MLAT as a better legal tool than “the cumbersome regular extradition process”.

Hazarika and Paresh Barua, Ulfa-I commander-in-chief were both chargesheeted by the NIA July on charges of waging war against the State.

Confession By Bodyguard Identifies Hazarika

The NIA claims that Hazarika is Ulfa-I chairman Abhizeet Asom, belonging to Kaxori gaon in Puranigudam in Assam.  According to the NIA, Hazarika had studied MBBS at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital in 1970 and then left for the UK around 30 years ago. His relatives have said that his last visit to Assam was in 1983 when his father expired. .

The source pointed out that Ulfa (I) cadre Gagan Hazarika alias Joydeep Cheleng, who acted as the bodyguard of Abhizeet Asom while visiting Ulfa (I) camps in Myanmar after he took over as the outfit’s chairman in 2012, has confessed about the true identity of the chairman to the NIA.

The source further stated that Gagan, arrested last year from Charaipung in Charaideo district, was a close associate of Abhizeet Asom during his stay the Myanmar camps and, therefore, his statements were valuable evidence.

 

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