Bangladesh cabinet approves extradition treaty with India

Dhaka: Bangladesh on Monday approved a proposed extradition treaty with India as the two countries are set to ink a crucial deal later today agreeing to deport wanted "criminals" hiding or lodged in each other's jails.

"The treaty will allow transfer of the convicted and under-trial criminals," Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.

However, he added that the treaty would not be applicable for people accused of offences of political nature and only those with charges like murders, culpable homicide and other serious offences would come under the purview of the deal.

He said the offenders of small crimes awarded with less than one year of imprisonment will also not be wanted under the treaty.

The move comes a week after India took an identical decision that approved the inking of the pact between the two countries during a home ministerial meeting between Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and his Bangladesh counterpart Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir.

Bangladeshi and Indian Home Ministry officials told PTI that both the countries would simultaneously exchange lists of wanted people seeking their deportation.

They said the two countries, at the same time, will also sign an agreement to liberalise the bilateral visa regime.

Mr Shinde arrived in Dhaka as a follow up of his Bangladesh counterpart's New Delhi tour last month while officials said the two ministers would also hold discussions to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the areas of security, border management, border infrastructure, training and capacity building and people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries agreed to ink the extradition treaty in December alongside an agreement to liberalise visa regime while New Delhi earlier promised to put in efforts to track down two absconding and convicted killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and hand them over to Dhaka as two of them were believed to be hiding in India.

Mr Alamgir had last month told reporters in Delhi that "Bangladesh will keep its pledge (but) the matter is now pending before a court" when asked if Dhaka would return jailed Indian separatist ULFA leader Anup Chetia.