Jan. 27 :     National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah has been arrested by Thai authorities soon after flying into Bangkok from Karachi. Muivah was arrested along with I. Shimre, said to be his chief arms procurer, last weekend. Muivah and Shimre are under judicial custody till February 1. Muivah's arrest was first disclosed by the Far Eastern Economic Review in the magazine's latest issue. Published from Hong Kong, the Review said he had been 'detained' after arriving on a flight from Karachi. India cannot seek the handover of Muivah and Shimre as there is no extradition treaty with Thailand. But home ministry officials were quick to point out that his Karachi visit is 'interesting' because 'it exposes the links that he enjoys with Pakistani officialdom, especially the country's intelligence agencies', which have been suspected of fomenting trouble in the Northeast. However, if Muivah is locked in a protracted legal battle in Thailand, it will affect the pace of peace talks between the Centre and the insurgents.Another round of talks was scheduled in Bangkok next week. A ceasefire is now in force between the Isak-Muivah group and the security forces in Nagaland. Senior officials in the Union home ministry, who learnt of the arrest only after the magazine carried the report, said Muivah was nabbed on January 22 for travelling on a fake Myanmarese passport. But Nagaland chief minister S. C. Jamir said 'reliable sources' had told him that the two were arrested on January 19. But the chief minister said he had not received any official communication from the Centre on the arrests till this evening. Besides, a joint secretary in the home ministry said they were carrying fake South Korean passports. This is not the first time that the leader of a banned insurgent outfit has been arrested on charges of travelling on fake travel documents. In 1998, Bangladesh police arrested Ulfa general secretary Anup Chetia for entering the country with fake travel documents. According to Indian security agencies, Chetia too used to travel frequently to Pakistan on assumed names. Both Muivah and the insurgent outfit president Isak Chisi Swu have been shuttling between Bangkok and Manila, the Philippines capital, since the early nineties.  Home ministry officials insisted that they had time and again asked Thailand to arrest both leaders. But the Thai government showed little interest as they had not committed any crime in that country.  Quoting Thai police sources, Reuters said Muivah has been lodged at Bangkok's Klong Prem prison pending trail, and 'at this moment, he can only be charged for entering the country with fake documents'. Thailand was on high alert ever since members of an armed insurgent group laid siege to the Myanmarese embassy in Bangkok, holding several persons hostage for a number of days. On Monday, there was another hostage crisis in a hospital. The NSCN(I-M) leaders have met two Indian Prime Ministers as part of the Naga peace talks. In 1997, then Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda met the two at Davos, Switzerland, during the economic summit.  The meeting was arranged by Congress leader and former internal security minister Rajesh Pilot, who had gone to Bangkok in November 1996 as Deve Gowda's envoy. A year later, Atal Behari Vajpayee discussed the peace talks with the two in Paris. Muivah and Swu had reached Nagaland in April last year to elicit the views of individuals and organisations.