Dhaka/Guwahati, April 9 (IANS): A Bangladesh court on Wednesday sentenced two leaders of militant outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Ranjan Chowdhury and his associate Pradip Marak, to life imprisonment, media reports said.
The two men were arrested on July 17, 2012, from Lakhsmipur in Kishoreganj with a number of weapons in their possession.
Chowdhury, alias Major Ranjan, was staying in Bangladesh since 1997 and maintained contacts with the northeast Indian insurgent group, police said.
Four cases were filed against the duo under the Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, illegal immigration and anti-terrorism acts.
Chowdhury was found guilty on both counts, while Marak was acquitted in the case under the Arms Act, bdnews24.com reported.
A senior police official in the northeast Indian state of Assam said Ranjan Chowdhury, who was arrested in Bangladesh by the country's elite force, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), was a senior level cadre of the outfit.
He joined the ULFA in the 1990s and escaped to Bangladesh in 1996.
Chowdhury - a 'central committee member' of the outfit - is a specialist in military training and had been maintaining a close relationship with the outfit's top brass including 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Baruah.
"However, nothing much was known about him (Chowdhury) in Assam since he has been out of Assam for a long time.
"Pradip Marak was an accomplice of Chowdhury and he was also not a very known face of the outfit in Assam. Most of their activities were mainly in Bangladesh," the police official said.
"Marak was running an NGO for the outfit while based in Sherpur in Bangladesh on the instructions of Chowdhury," the official said.
Chowdhury alias Pradip Roy alias Dipjyoti Mahanta was of the rank of 'lieutenant' in the outfit and was in charge of western Assam's Dhubri district that borders Bangladesh. He hails from Madhusolmari village in the district.
On November 30, 2009, ULFA co-founder Arabinda Rajkhowa was also arrested near Dhaka and repatriated to India, but was later released on bail from the Guwahati Central Jail on January 1, 2011.
ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia was also arrested in Dhaka on December 21, 1997. He was sentenced to seven years in jail by a Bangladesh court and is being held at Kashimpur Jail.