Alleged chairman of ULFA-I – Mukul Hazarika alias Abhijeet Asom – will not be extradited to India.
The development follows a legal battle that Mukul Hazarika won a legal battle in a UK court.
Mukul Hazarika, an Indian-origin doctor from Assam, had been fighting a case on his proposed extradition to India on a terror charge.
He was charged with terror charge for allegedly being chairman of ULFA-I.
The UK court that heard the matter discharged Mukul Hazarika of the charges on Thursday.
75-year-old Mukul Hazarika, a British national, is a general medical practitioner from Cleveland in northern England.
He was sought by the Indian government for prosecution for allegedly waging wage war against the Government of India and conspiring to commit terrorism under the UAPA.
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The court of Westminster magistrates in its judgment said that the accused must be discharged as the particulars in the case were not satisfactory.
There is no admissible evidence that establishes that the defendant is Abhijit Asom, chairman of ULFA-I, justice Michael Snow of Westminster magistrates’ court said.
“I conclude that there is no admissible evidence that provides the essential identification that the defendant was the chairman of ULFA-I or gave the speech at the training camp. I am satisfied that a tribunal of fact, properly directed, could not reasonably and properly find that the defendant was Asom or convict on the basis of the evidence. I discharge the defendant pursuant to s84(5) 2003 [Extradition] Act,” he said.
Notably, Dr Mukul Hazarika alias Abhijeet Asom, the former chairman of the Paresh Baruah-led ULFA-I, a London based doctor, was recently quizzed by the MI6 to ascertain his real identity.
According to reports, following interrogation, Abhijeet Asom quit ULFA-I, fearing an extradition to India by the United Kingdom government.
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India made a formal request of extradition of Mukul Hazarika alias Abhijeet Asom to the UK in connection with an NIA case.
A case was registered by the NIA in 2017 against Abhijeet Asom under Sections 18, 18A, 18B and 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and sections 121A and 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Last year, ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah had claimed that the outfit’s then chairman Abhijit Asom was a ‘fiction’ created for security forces and intelligence agencies.