Meghalaya court defers Salahuddin verdict again

The verdict on BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed, who entered Shillong, Meghalaya 'without valid documents' in May 2015 and was subsequently arrested, was deferred yet again on Monday, according to The North East today.

The court of Judicial magistrate (first class) of Meghalaya deferred its judgment for the third time to November 9, the report said.

With this the hearing on his case has been deferred for the third time in a row.

"The verdict was initially set for August 13 which was later deferred to October 15 and today it has been postponed to November 9th," read the report.

It may be mentioned that the hearing on the verdict in Ahmed’s case was deferred today as the public prosecutor had sought for an adjournment.

Ahmed, the communications minister during the government of BNP leader Khaleda Zia from 2001-06, was arrested on May 1, 2015 from Golflink area, Shillong in Meghalaya after people alerted authorities about his movement in the area.

Police registered a case against him under the Foreigners Act on charges of illegally entering India after he failed to produce his travel documents. He also did not have any papers to prove his identity and citizenship.

Ahmed’s family had alleged that some men in plainclothes flashing identity cards of the Bangladesh Police Detective Branch picked him up from a house in Dhaka on the night of March 10, 2015. It may be mentioned that Ahmed was made BNP spokesman weeks before his disappearance.