Anup Chetia: Bangladesh 'hands over' India rebel leader

The rebels have fought for a separate Assamese homeland since 1979

India says Bangladesh has handed over a jailed separatist rebel leader whose group has been fighting Indian rule in the north-eastern state of Assam.

Junior home minister Kiren Rijiju said Anup Chetia, a leader of the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa), was being brought to India from Dhaka.

Chetia was jailed in 1997 for illegal entry into Bangladesh and possessing huge amounts of foreign currency.

The rebels have fought for a separate Assamese homeland since 1979.

Mr Rijiju told reporters on Wednesday that a team of Indian federal investigators were bringing back Chetia.

However, according to the AFP news agency, Bangladesh's Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said he had no information that Chetia was being handed over to India.

The Press Trust of India news agency reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina to thank her for handing Chetia over to the Indian government.

In 2009, the government in Bangladesh launched a crackdown on Indian separatists operating out of its territory.

More than 50 rebel leaders and activists have been handed over to India since then, while others have been arrested while trying to enter Bangladesh to avoid capture in India.