ULFA Chief Paresh Baruah Gets Relief From Bangladesh Court In 2004 Arms Case Under Khaleda Zia Regime

Self-styled commander-in-chief of ULFA Paresh Baruah has got a big relief from a Bangladeshi court in a 2004 arms smuggling case

A Bangladeshi high court has commuted the death penalty of Paresh Baruah, chief of the terrorist organisation United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), to life imprisonment. The case revolves around a massive cache of arms — 10 truckloads of weapons and ammunition — intercepted during the rule of Khaleda Zia, when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami coalition was in power in 2004.

According to Dhaka Tribune, the court also acquitted former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar and five others in connection with the 2004 Chattogram arms haul.

The case involved the smuggling of weapons intended for anti-India militant groups. On April 1, 2004, the massive cache of arms was seized by security forces. Lutfozzaman Babar, who served as the junior minister for home affairs in the Khaleda Zia-led government between 2001 and 2006, was implicated for his role in facilitating the arms smuggling to groups hostile to India.

The BNP-led administration at the time reportedly provided refuge to Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be operating from China currently. Baruah was one of the six individuals initially sentenced to death in the case. While his penalty has been downgraded to life imprisonment, the remaining convicts have had their sentences reduced to 10 years in prison.

As per DT, 102 people were named in two cases – one under the Arms Act and another under the Special Powers Act –  stemming from the incident. Of them, 14, including Paresh Baruah and Lutfozzaman Babar, were awarded capital punishment in 2014. Among the others were former NSI director general of Bangladesh Abdur Rahim and former DGFI director Maj Gen (Retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury. All of them were sentenced under the Special Powers Act.

The crackdown on anti-India elements in Bangladesh began under the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina. Hasina’s administration had actively targeted groups like ULFA that had found safe haven in the country. However, her recent ousting, following widespread protests, has brought a caretaker government under Muhammad Yunus to power.

The acquittals and sentence reductions come at a time when relations between the new Dhaka administration and New Delhi remain tense over the violence against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.