The Ministry of Home Affairs has granted approval for the repatriation of Salahuddin Ahmed, a standing committee member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), from India.
The decision comes following a request from the Bangladesh foreign ministry, seeking an opinion on the repatriation of the 60-year-old BNP leader, who has fought legal battles for nearly eight years over allegations of trespassing in India.
A home ministry official confirmed on Wednesday that the Ministry of Home Affairs has given its no-objection to the repatriation, aligning with the request made by the foreign ministry.
Salahuddin Ahmed’s case has been a subject of interest as he went missing for approximately two months before being found in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya state in northeastern India, on May 11, 2015. The Indian authorities subsequently arrested him on charges of trespassing.
However, BNP claimed that Salahuddin was picked up from a house in Uttara, Dhaka, on March 10, 2015, allegedly by unidentified individuals posing as detectives.
In an interview with Deutsche Welle Bangla, the BNP leader recounted being handcuffed, blindfolded, and forcefully taken from a friend’s house in Dhaka. He remained in secret detention for 61 days before discovering that he was in India.
After a legal process that spanned several years, an Indian lower court acquitted Salahuddin of the charges on October 26, 2018.
The Indian government’s appeal against the verdict was unsuccessful.
On February 28, 2023, the Shillong Judge Court in Meghalaya upheld the lower court’s verdict of acquittal, bringing an end to the long-standing legal battle over trespassing allegations against the BNP leader.
As per the operative part of the Shillong Court’s order, the police superintendent (infiltration) has been instructed to coordinate with the relevant authorities for the deportation of the “acquitted person” to Bangladesh.
Following his acquittal, on March 24, the Meghalaya government wrote to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, urging the expeditious deportation of this “high-profile” Bangladeshi national.
On May 8, Salahuddin applied to the Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner in Guwahati for travel documents, including all relevant case documents.
