BNP politician Salahuddin Ahmed, currently incarcerated in jail on charges of illegally entering the Indian state of Meghalaya, has been crying himself hoarse in court about his alleged abduction from Dhaka and subsequent arrival in capital Shillong. But according to the public prosecutor for the Meghalaya government in the Salahuddin case, advocate IC Jha, the court is not likely to take cognisance of such story.
According to Jha, it is a very simple case; Ahmed has been charged with entering India without any valid documents. Now any story made up by the accused is unlikely to have any effect on the court.
Newly appointed judicial magistrate D Sohtun will now hear the case of the BNP leader.
Ahmed, a former state minister in Khaleda Zia government, is facing trial in court since he was caught for illegally entering Indian territory on May 11last year.
Ahmed is out on bail, but he is not permitted to move out of Shillong jurisdiction. Public Prosecutor Jha said that 10 witnesses had been cross-examined.
The accused was to record his statement on July 8 last under Section 313 of the CrPC. But the previous judge had been transferred, so the hearing will now be presided over by Sohtun.
Replying to a question, Jha said that there was nothing new now in the Salahuddin case. The court will record Ahmed’s statement on Aug 29 and unless he produces any new witness, the final argument will be presented.
According to Jha, in Salahuddin’s case, the punishment may be a maximum of five-year imprisonment but because he had already stayed for some time in jail, the court may consider it his punishment and may decide to push him back to Bangladesh. According to people closely watching the case, given the present situation in Bangladesh, Ahmed does not want to go back there.
However, the Bangladesh government in a statement had stated that the BNP leader would be brought back once his trial in India was completed.
