Charge framed against Salahuddin

A Shillong court in the Indian state of Meghalaya today framed charges against BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed for trespass.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate KML Nongbri also fixed July 30 for starting the trial of the case filed under the foreigners act.

Earlier on June 3, Shillong police pressed charges against the BNP leader 23 days after the case filling.

Salahuddin’s lawyer SP Mahanta said his client denied the charges because he did not trespass.

“If Salahuddin confess his crime, the court will order to send him to Bangladesh after awarding punishment against him,” said lawyer IC Jha who stood for the state.

If the BNP leader is found guilty, he might be handed a jail term, said lawyers.

Salahuddin, 54, is now receiving treatment at North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (Neigrihms) under judicial custody. Police arrested him on May 11, around two months after he went missing in Dhaka.

On May 27, a Shillong court placed the BNP joint secretary general on judicial custody. Two days later, another court rejected his bail prayer. He sought bail for better treatment of his ailment in a third country.

The arrestee was first admitted to a mental hospital in Shillong as police found him “mentally unstable”. Later, he was shifted to Shillong Civil Hospital. On May 20, he was taken to Neigrihms for better treatment.

Salahuddin's family members and the BNP complained that law enforcers had picked him up from a house in the capital's Uttara on March 10.