Deported United Liberation Front of Asom leader Anup Chetia was brought to Guwahati on Wednesday by the Central Bureau of Investigation on a transit remand and produced before the court of the chief judicial magistrate, who remanded him to five-day CBI custody.
Chetia, who was incarcerated in Bangladesh for 18 years and was handed over to India on November 11, was brought here in a special aircraft and whisked away through the cargo gate of Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati. He was brought in a convoy with his vehicle led by two escort vehicles and several police vehicles behind it.
Chetia, 48, was taken directly from the airport to the chief judicial magistrate's court, Kamrup, a senior police official said.
His vehicle was taken inside the court's compound keeping him away from waiting journalists and the huge crowd waiting to see the insurgent leader.
Chetia's lawyer Bijan Mahajan told journalists at the court that they would apply for a bail.
His family members and colleagues, who are participating in the peace talks with the government, were not allowed to meet Chetia.
The police official said it was not clear whether Chetia was brought directly from Delhi, where he was arrested by the CBI after being handed over to India, or from Kolkata.
Chetia's wife Monika Baruah, ULFA's 'foreign secretary' Sasa Choudhury, and other pro-peace talk ULFA leaders were present in the court premises but they were not allowed to meet him as he was whisked inside the court.
Heavy police arrangements were made and barricades were erected around the court in order to thwart attempts by people from going near Chetia or raising pro-ULFA slogans as they did when ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa was produced in the court in 2009.
Chetia, whose real name is Golap Baruah, is the founding member of ULFA and its general secretary. He is also known as Sunil Baruah, Bhaijan and Ahmed.
Born in Jerai Gaon in Tinsukia district of Assam, Chetia is among the state's most-wanted criminals.
Wanted for murder, abductions and extortion in India, Chetia was arrested in March 1991. He fled the country following his release from jail and was arrested by Bangladesh police in December 1997. He was jailed for seven years on charges of cross-border intrusion, carrying fake passports and illegally keeping foreign currencies.
Chetia continued to remain in jail after his term as there was no extradition treaty between India and Bangladesh at that time.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had said that 'the ULFA leader's extradition to India would have a positive impact on the ongoing government and pro-talk ULFA peace process'.
