Anup Chetia

Dhaka, Feb. 25: Ulfa leader Anup Chetia?s jail term in Bangladesh ended today, but he will remain in ?safe custody? there until the country?s high court gives its ruling on two petitions, one pertaining to his security and the other a request for political asylum.

India is pressuring Dhaka to extradite Chetia, alias Golap Barua, but a human rights group has petitioned the high court against his possible extradition by saying it feared for his life.

Chetia, 54, and two of his aides were arrested in Dhaka on December 21, 1997. He was tried and sentenced to seven years and three months in jail on charges of illegal entry into the country, violation of travel and foreign currency laws and illegal possession of a satellite phone.

Chetia and his aides, imprisoned in Kashimpur jail outside the capital city of Dhaka, will be in ?safe custody? as long as the two petitions are pending in the high court, said the rebel leader?s Bangladeshi lawyer, Elina Khan.

Chetia first sought political asylum in Bangladesh in 2003, saying he could be killed on his return to India. The Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights, a group led by lawyer Sigma Huda, has now filed a separate petition on his behalf for asylum in the country.

?Anup Chetia will remain in safe custody unless these two petitions are disposed of,? Khan said.

Huda said Chetia would not be freed, but his status in prison would change. She said Chetia had appealed to her organisation for protection. ?We shall provide him legal support.?

Bangladesh foreign secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury refused to comment on Chetia?s release or possible extradition to India. He said the onus was on the high court to take a decision.

There is an Interpol notice in Chetia?s name and an arrest warrant issued against him on March 3, 1997, by Assam police.

Born in Chabua under Dibrugarh district in 1957, Chetia is known to have managed a country liquor distillery till 1985, six years after Ulfa was born. The Assam police website describes him as ?violent?.

?He underwent arms and guerrilla warfare tactics under Kachin Independent Army and the NSCN. He can handle and operate all types of arms. He always carries small arms with him,? the website says.