New Delhi, Dec. 31: The New Year promises to bring peaceful tidings for the Northeast.

Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa will be released tomorrow morning, paving the path for talks. More Ulfa leaders and the NSCN (I-M) chairman are expected to arrive in the country soon and the anti-talks NDFB is ready for talks.

The real good news is from Dhaka. Sources said Bangladesh would hand over around 30 Ulfa leaders, including Anup Chetia and Antu Chowdang (an aide of Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua), to India. Rajkhowa’s release will ensure that the strings remain in the senior leader’s hands and Chetia’s arrival will only make things worse for Barua.

“Chetia is the one capable of posing a challenge to Barua,” a senior government official here said.

The handing over of the Ulfa leaders and their families will be staggered over the next few weeks as discussions over the structure of negotiations with the Centre is carried out in Guwahati.