Teesside GP accused of terror charges will find out next month if he faces extradition to India

A Teesside GP who has practised in Billingham since the 1980s will find out next month if he faces extradition to India on terror charges.

Dr Mukul Hazarika is accused by the Indian government of leading a terrorist organisation, which wants independence for the Assam area.

He strenuously denies the charges against him.

A three-day hearing to decide whether Dr Hazarika has to face trial in India has finished at Westminster Magistrates Court.

The judgement will be handed down next month.

Dr Hazarika, 75, has been a well-respected figure in the community, working as a family doctor at Queenstree Medical Centre in Billingham since the 1980s.

However, the Indian government say he is in fact Abhijeet Asom, and since 2012 they say he has been the chair of a terrorist organisation called the United Liberation Front of Assam, which has been involved in a campaign of bombings and violence in India over a 30 year period.

They accuse him of attending terrorist training camps, allegations he strongly denies.

If extradited, he will face trial for waging war against the government of India and conspiring to commit a terrorist act.

Dr Hazarika has been living in London under bail conditions since his arrest last year but can now return home under the same bail conditions, which include a curfew and a tag.

It is not known if he will be practising medicine in that time.

Dr Hazarika's lawyers argued that he is a human rights advocate for those in Assam and the evidence from the Indian government is flimsy.

His fate now rests in the hands of a district judge at Westminster Magistrates Court who will make a decision on the 16th of June.

If he is extradited and found guilty, he could face the rest of his life in prison.