BNP leader Salahuddin may return from India after Eid

BNP standing committee member and former state minister Salahuddin Ahmed will not return home from India before the Eid-ul-Azha.

He is now staying in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya in India.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on Friday night by phone, Salahuddin said he wants to return home after Eid, after undergoing treatment in a Delhi hospital.

He said, "My wife is supposed to come to India. I will go with my wife to Delhi for treatment."

Salahuddin Ahmed got a travel pass to return home on 12 June and as per the conditions, he has to return within three months.

When asked about undergoing medical treatment after returning home, he said, "I may not get the opportunity to get treatment after returning home."

Salahuddin said, "I hope the Indian government will take a decision in consideration of my condition. I will be grateful if I am sent by air."

The former state minister said he seriously fell ill when he was thrown out at Shillong and underwent two surgeries in a Delhi hospital. He had to visit the hospital several times.

"I couldn't go to the hospital any more after the coronavirus outbreak. So I have to consult the physicians before returning home," Salahuddin added.

Salahuddin went missing on 10 March 2015 from Uttara in the capital city. Then 61 days later, on 11 May, he was recovered by local police in Shillong of Meghalaya, India.

The Indian police at the time said that they had detained him after receiving a phone call from local people who said he had been wandering around in an unstable state.

Salahuddin Ahmed, a former assistant personal secretary (APS) of Khaleda Zia, became a member of the BNP’s highest policy making body, the standing committee, at the time of his detention in India. He was elected parliamentarian from Cox’s Bazar in 2001 and made a state minister for the road transport and bridges ministry later in the BNP regime.