Source: The Sangai Express
Dhaka, January 09 2010:
Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf had a secret meeting with jailed ULFA leader Anup Chetia during a visit here when ex-premier Khaleda Zia of BNP was in power, a senior Bangladesh minister has alleged.
"Pervez Musharraf came to Dhaka...
when the ULFA leader was detained in the (Dhaka Central) jail, from where he was brought to the Sheraton Hotel" for a meeting with the President, local government minister Ashraful Islam said.
"He (Chetia) held a meeting with Pervez Musharraf for some one and a half hours," Islam, also the general secretary of ruling Awami League, said at a discussion on Indo-Bangla relations on Friday.
Chetia was arrested from Dhaka during the past 1996-2001 Awami League regime and still is in "security custody" despite the expiry of his jail term for cross-border intrusion.
Islam's comments came as investigators here reportedly revealed alleged links between the insurgent group and Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI).
A probe is underway into the country's biggest-ever arms haul in 2004 when Bangladesh Police seized 10 truckloads of arms believed to be destined for ULFA hideouts in northeast India.