The Union government is understood to have extended the visa of controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin, who returned earlier this month after she was bundled out from West Bengal in November last year. The papers for extending her visa, which was expiring on Sunday, were moved and the nod for the extension was given by the government, sources said. However, it was not immediately clear whether the extension was for three or six months, they said. added that details regarding these have been keptunder wraps.

The 45-year-old Bangladeshi writer, who has been a target of Islamic fundamentalists, returned to India early this month from Sweden and was whisked away by security agencies to an undisclosed destination in the national capital. The future plans of the doctor-turned writer, who shot to fame with her controversial book "Lajja", were not immediately known.

The controversial writer has been requesting for a permanent residency in the country but the Government has not taken any decision on the issue. Taslima had left India on March 18 for Sweden after she was kept in a safe house in New Delhi for more than four months. Taslima, who had not been allowed to see any visitors during the period, had described her confinement as like living in "a chamber of death". The author has not been pressing for visiting her residence in Kolkata this time as she was skeptical of Left parties' response to her arrival, they said.