Trespassing Charges: Salahuddin cleared

An Indian court yesterday acquitted BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed in a case filed against him over trespassing into India more than three years ago.

“We have been awarded justice. The verdict proves he [Salahuddin] is innocent. Now there is no bar for him to return to Bangladesh,” Salahuddin's lawyer SP Mohanta told our Kolkata correspondent. 

East Khashi Hill District and Sessions Judge's Court in Meghalaya delivered the verdict yesterday afternoon and directed the authorities to send Salahuddin, a BNP standing committee member, to Bangladesh.

BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed hugging his lawyer SP Mohanta on October 26, 2018, after securing acquittal in the trespassing case in Shillong. Photo: Collected

Talking to The Daily Star by phone from Shillong, the BNP leader said, “I have been awarded justice. Now I want to return to Bangladesh as soon as possible.”

He is waiting for an official copy of the verdict.

He said he was provided all kinds of supports, including treatment, during his time in jail, and expressed his gratitude to the Indian government.

Previously, the court had deferred the date of the verdict five times.

The Daily Star could not reach the prosecution lawyer for comment despite repeated attempts.

The grounds of his acquittal were not immediately.

Salahuddin, 57, who was state minister for communication in the 2001-06 BNP-Jamaat government, had gone missing from Dhaka on March 10, 2015.

Three months later, he was found "hanging around" in Shillong on May 11, according to Meghalaya police.

However, after his arrest in Shillong, Salahuddin told the Meghalaya police that a group of people claiming to be detectives picked him up from his Uttara house in Dhaka on March 10.

He said he was taken to Shillong by an SUV after nearly an overnight's drive, but could not say from where the car started and who were with him.

His relatives said Salahuddin was blindfolded when he was dropped off by a car in Golf Link area of Shillong.

People had feared about the life of the BNP leader when he was missing while authorities had denied the allegations of detaining Salahuddin.

Salahuddin, who was assistant personal secretary to the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia when BNP came to power in 1991, later left the public service and joined BNP. In 2001, he was elected MP from Cox's Bazar.

During his arrest in Meghalaya, he was joint secretary general of BNP. While in the Indian jail, BNP elected him as a member of its standing committee.

Talking to this paper after the verdict, Salahuddin said he came to know about the formation of Jatiya Oikyafront, which includes BNP, Dr Kamal Hossain's Gonoforum, ASM Abdur Rab's Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Mahmudur Rahman Manna's Nagorik Oikya.

The alliance should have been formed much earlier to restore democracy in the country, he said.

“I hope the countrymen will be able to return to a full-fledged democratic atmosphere immediately,” he said.

About the fate of the Oikyafront, the BNP leader said, “When a national unity is formed, it never goes in vain.

“I hope, a good sense will prevail upon the government in holding the next general election in a free, fair and inclusive manner.”

[Our Kolkata correspondent contributed to this report]