ULFA leader Anup Chetia. ULFA leader Anup Chetia.

ULFA founder and general secretary Anup Chetia, who was extradited from Bangladesh last month, was released from Guwahati Central Jail Thursday after a special court granted him bail in the last of the four cases for which he was detained.

Chetia was driven by his associates in the pro-talk ULFA faction to an undisclosed destination immediately after he told reporters outside the prison that he would take part in the peace talks with the government.

He said “sorry for the mistakes” ULFA had made in the past and said he would work with “nationalistic” organisations for Assam’s indigenous communities.

“I will work for a peaceful settlement of the Indo-Assam conflict and want to be part of the on-going tripartite talks involving the ULFA, the Assam government and the government of India,” Chetia said. He also dismissed speculation that he would try to go underground as he had done in 1992 after he was granted bail and had an audience with then PM P V Narasimha Rao.

“Things have changed. Global politics has changed. This has also affected Assam and there is enough scope now to look at things from a changed perspective,” he said, reading out a statement outside the jail gate. “I think it is time for a democratic and united struggle to ensure welfare of the indigenous communities of Assam.”

Chetia, who was detained in four different cases immediately after he was brought to Delhi from Dhaka on November 11, was granted bail in the last of them on Wednesday by the special CBI court. He will, however, appear before a court in connection with an Assam Police Special Operations Unit case, where the police are unlikely to oppose bail.

Chetia, who was arrested in Dhaka in December 1997, had since then been in Bangladesh prisons after he was held guilty for illegally entering that country and for illegal possession of foreign currency. Though sentenced for a seven-year term in Bangladesh, he continued to remain in jail there in the absence of an extradition treaty between the two nations.

“I am happy that I am finally out after so many years in jail. I am grateful to the governments of Bangladesh and India for making my return possible,” he said.

The ULFA leader refused to comment on former colleague and ULFA leader Paresh Barua, except saying that he made “significant” contribution towards ULFA’s struggle.

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