New Delhi/Calcutta, May 23: Away from the public eye and over the last few weeks, India and Bangladesh have been giving each other considerable proof of good-neighbourliness by cracking down on insurgents taking refuge in each other’s countries.

For India, tired of telling the previous Khaleda Zia government to crack down on Indian insurgent camps in Bangladesh — she always denied there was any — the current army-backed government’s determination to move on this front has come as a welcome respite.

From the highest levels in Dhaka — from President Fakhruddin Ahmed’s assurances to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and from army chief Moeen U. Ahmed’s messages to the Indian establishment — Delhi has been reassured that Bangladesh would, finally, take action against Ulfa, Bodo and Kamtapur Liberation Organisation insurgents hiding in that country.

In return, Delhi has told Dhaka that it would not allow any Bangladeshi criminal or militant to take refuge in India. After Dhaka handed over a list of 95 wanted people, Delhi acknowledged for the first time that Bangladeshi militants were crossing over into Bengal and hiding in big cities like Calcutta.

This strategic quid pro quo on India’s eastern front is being forged despite reports that Bangladeshi militants, inspired by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, have been involved in blasts in Indian cities, including Hyderabad.

None other than India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh, Pinak Chakraborty, has now confirmed that this is happening.

During a visit to Shillong earlier this week, he told reporters that the caretaker government in Dhaka “was acting against Indian insurgents in Bangladesh and a few Bodo militants were arrested in the Sherpur district of Bangladesh”.

Chakraborty said these actions have given India hope to renew its request to hand over Ulfa leader Anup Chetia, who was released from a Dhaka jail in February 2003 and is still believed to be in Bangladesh.

Delhi’s decision to forge a “pragmatic” relationship with Dhaka’s army-backed regime is a source of both surprise and dismay to many, especially Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, with whom the Indian government has a strong and historic relationship.

But the Centre has now decided to back any government in Dhaka — even if led by the army — as long as it is able to move on a variety of fronts with India.

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament that Delhi had given a list of 176 Indian insurgents and 339 criminals hiding in Bangladesh. “Assurances have been given that Bangladeshi territory will not be allowed to be used for activities inimical to India,” Mukherjee said.

In Calcutta, the CID’s special operations group has created a team headed by DIG Rajeev Kumar to crack down on Bangladeshi militants hiding in Bengal.

The team tasted its first success when it arrested on May 5 Tanveer-ul Islam Khandekar, one of those on the list of 95 given by Dhaka to Delhi.

It is now looking for Mollah Masood, said to be a key aide of Bangla Bhai or Siddique-ul Islam of the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, a dreaded terrorist hanged by the caretaker government a few weeks ago.

Intelligence officers in Calcutta said Dum Dum, Broad Street, Beckbagan and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road in the city were major hideouts for Bangladeshi militants.

In Tripura, Border Security Force inspector-general J.A. Khan confirmed that more than 100 militants have surrendered and 36 of them have laid down arms in the past three months.

BSF and Bangladesh Rifles jawans have even begun joint patrolling along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura, an event that was unheard of during the Khaleda days.