Dhaka, Delhi to sign extradition treaty in January

Bangladesh and India on Tuesday agreed to sign an extradition treaty and a Revised Travel Agreement (RTA) in January next year.

India is considering Bangladesh’s request for handing over Subrata Bain, one of the most wanted criminals in Bangladesh who was arrested in Kolkata last month after he escaped from a jail in Nepal, Joint Secretary in Indian Home Ministry Shambhu Singh said on Tuesday, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Seeking to address a major concern of Bangladesh over border killings by BSF, both sides agreed not to resort to firing unless fired upon or attacked by terrorists or armed criminals, said a Joint Statement issued after talks between visiting Bangladesh Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir and his Indian counterpart Sushilkumar Shinde at the latter’s North Block office here.

The extradition treaty and the RTA would be signed by the two countries during the proposed visit of the Indian home minister to Dhaka in January 2013, said the statement.

The extradition treaty, whose draft was handed over by India to Bangladesh a year ago, has been under consideration of Dhaka since then.

The delegation-level meeting between the two home ministers agreed that “incidents of deaths and loss of life on the border are extremely unfortunate and regrettable”.

The two countries agreed to enhance cooperation in order to address security concerns and also to implement the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) signed between the two countries to control illegal cross border activities.

Responding to the request of Bangladesh for tracking, apprehending and handing over of the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, India reassured them that it would extend all possible cooperation in this regard if they are in India.

Risaldar Mosleuddin, who had fired at the Bangabandhu, is suspected to be hiding in India.

Both the countries agreed to further enhance the level of cooperation and vigilance to control the smuggling of fake Indian currency notes and discussed the urgency of stopping the smuggling of narcotics and psychotropic substances.

Source: The Daily Star