Dhaka: The City Sessions Court of Calcutta in India sentenced 34 Arakanese and Karen rebels to three years in prison and fines of 6,000 rupees on three separate charges after the rebels agreed to a plea bargain with the Indian Federal Police, report sources.

Judge Uday Chandra Nag sentenced the 34 rebels to three years in prison and a fine of 6,000 rupees on 12 July, after the rebels accepted the conditions of the plea bargain, the source said.

They were sentenced on charges of entering the country illegally, and possession of weapons and explosives.

The judge sentenced them to six months in prison on weapons possession charges under section No. 25 (B), along with a fine of 2,000 rupees.

For the charges of entering the country illegally, under section No. 14, and possession of explosives, under section No. 5 (B), the judge sentenced them to one year and three months in prison and fines of 2,000 rupees for each charge.

The 34 Arakanese and Karen rebels have been detained since 1998 and have already served the time of the sentences. Among the 34 rebels, 24 are from the National United Party of Arakan and 10 from the Karen National Union. Even though they have served their time, they will not be released until they can pay their fines of 6,000 rupees each.

The actual release of the 34 rebels may be even further delayed once the fines are paid because the authorities in Calcutta have yet to finalize the details for their release, said another source.

The rebels, along with six prominent revolutionary leaders, including Bo Raza, were lured to India's Andaman Islands in February 1998 by an Indian intelligence officer, Colonel Biswajit Singh Grewal, on the pretense of building a naval base to monitor China's naval activities on the Indian Ocean.

When the group arrived at Landford Island in the Andaman Archipelago, the six leaders - Bo Raza, Major Saw Tun, Major Ran Naing, Captain Lin Zan Khaing, Phado Mu Lwe, and Captain Soe Myint - were assassinated by the Indian Army while the rest were detained on charges of gun-running.

According to an Indian intelligence source, Colonel Grewal left the Indian Army immediately after the incident and is reported to have settled down in Burma, giving rise to suspicions that he may have been working as a double-agent for the Burmese government.

There are many reports that the Burmese military authorities have provided many business opportunities to Colonel Grewal, including a whisky factory in Mandalay, after he coordinated the assassinations.

India's Central Bureau of Investigation took seven years to draw up formal charges against the 34 rebels and they were moved to a prison in Calcutta from the Andamans after India's leading human rights lawyer Nandita Haksar filed a motion in the Supreme Court.

On 12 July, 2010, the judge finally handed down a sentence on the three charges after the rebels had each served 12 years in Indian prisons.