Raju Barua being produced at a court in Guwahati on Tuesday. (PTI)

Guwahati, Nov. 23: Ulfa deputy commander-in-chief Raju Barua was today granted bail by the designated Tada court here, raising hopes of the stalled peace process with the outfit finally getting off the ground.

The bail comes a day after the Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa reiterated that talks could begin only after the jailed leaders were freed. Barua now has to get bail in a CBI case to walk out of jail.

The Tada court granted bail to Barua in three cases against two local surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each.

Though Barua had moved bail petitions more than a month back, the trial courts initially rejected it, followed by the court of the chief judicial magistrate, the CBI and the Tada courts.

The Tada court, however, has granted the bail on certain conditions. “The court has asked Barua not to leave the country till disposal of the case,” said Barua’s advocate Pranab Das. “The court has also asked the Ulfa leader to deposit his passport, if any, to the court.”

“The court has asked Barua not to leave the state of Assam without informing the officer-in-charge of the local police station of the area where he is a resident. The court has also asked him not to commit any offence during the pendency of this case or misuse the liberty given to him in any other manner whatsoever,” said Das.

“Barua must inform local police about his presence wherever he goes and also inform them about the duration of his stay. He was also warned not to threaten witnesses of the case and their family and relatives,” said Das.

The CBI court that granted bail to Barua on October 12 this year imposed similar restrictions.

The court had earlier granted bail to all important members of the outfit’s central executive committee — vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi, central publicity secretary Mithinga Daimari, cultural secretary Pranati Deka and ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain alias Mama.

The Rapid Action Force of the Bangladesh government had arrested Barua and Rajkhowa somewhere near Dhaka and handed them over to India in December last year. Both Rajkhowa and Barua had been lodged in Guwahati Central Jail since then.

The case was regarding the assassination bid on revenue minister Bhumidhar Barman in 1995. “The hearing of the case (CBI case number 50/2006) is over and the government advocates have not raised any objection to granting bail to Barua,” he said.

The CBI court fixed November 26 for the final judgment over the bail petition.