Bringing back BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed from Shillong would only be possible once Indian courts resolved the case against him for intruding into the neighbouring country’s territory, the Bangladeshi police chief has said.
“Salahuddin cannot be brought back from India soon,” said Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque, adding that the extradition would be made under the existing prisoner exchange treaty between Dhaka and New Delhi.
“The Indian authorities have arrested and filed a case against Salahuddin as per their law, and once the legal procedure of the case ends, we would be able to bring him back,” Shahidul added.
“It is our responsibility to inform the governments concerned if anyone facing a criminal case is found in another country, and we have carried out our responsibility properly,” the IGP told a press conference at the police headquarters in Dhaka yesterday.
More than two months after he disappeared from a house in Uttara, BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed was found in Shillong on May 11.
How he ended up there remains unclear, even though the BNP leader insists that he had been kidnapped by a group of unidentified people and had no recollection of how he landed in the northeastern Indian city.
Since his disappearance on March 10, Salahuddin’s family – as well as his party – had been claiming that the leader had been abducted by law enforcers.
Meanwhile, after detaining Salahuddin from a street in Shillong, the Meghalaya police filed a case against him under the foreigners act, as he had no valid papers, proof of identity or travel permit. The BNP leader is currently receiving treatment in an under-trial prisoner cell at the Shillong Civil Hospital.
According to India’s law, if anyone entered or tried to enter the country without any valid documents or illegally, then the person would face imprisonment for three months or more, or face a financial penalty.