BNP leader Salauddin acquitted of charges in Indian court

The Shillong judge court of Meghalaya in India on Tuesday acquitted BNP standing committee member Salauddin Ahmed of the charges brought against him.

Salauddin himself confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo from Shillong.

The Appellate Division of Shillong judge court delivered the verdict.  

When asked about the verdict, Salauddin told Prothom Alo that the lower court of Shillong acquitted him of the charges brought against him on 26 October in 2018.

But the state government filed an appeal against the verdict, which was rejected on Tuesday.

He said the court acquitted him of charges and issued an order to dispose of the lawsuit quickly.

At the same time, the court also issued an instruction to send him back to the country at the shortest possible time.

The BNP leader said, "Now, I want to return to the country as soon as possible."

Salauddin Ahmed went missing from Uttara in Dhaka on 10 March in 2015 at a time when he was the joint secretary general of BNP. Shillong police later rescued him on 11 May of the year and admitted him to a mental hospital. Then the leader was taken to Shillong civil hospital for treatment.  

In the court, Salauddin said he was abducted from his residence in Dhaka in March, 2015. Two months after the abduction some unknown persons pushed him off Shillong.

Shillong police filed a case against him on 11 May in 2015 on charges of trespassing into Indian territory.

Salauddin, a former assistant personal secretary (APS) of Khaleda Zia, became a member of the BNP’s highest policy making body, standing committee, at the time of detention in India.

He was elected parliamentarian from Cox’s Bazar in 2001 and made a state minister for road transport and bridges ministry later in the BNP regime.