Shillong court to frame charges against Salahuddin July 22

A Shillong court of India yesterday fixed July 22 for framing charges against BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed in a case filed for entering the country without any valid documents.

Chief Judicial Magistrate KML Nongbri of Shillong District and Sessions Judge Court fixed the date.

A lawyer of Shillong city said if Salahudding confesses his guilt before the court on the date of charge framing, it will fix another date for announcing verdict in the case. If he refutes the allegation, the court will start trial proceedings, he added.

Shilong police field the case against the BNP leader under the Foreigners Act on May 27. Later, the Shillong court sent the BNP leader to jail for 14 days. The court granted conditional bail to him on June 5. Now, he is staying at a rented cottage in Shillong city.

The BNP joint secretary was picked up from a house in Uttara of Dhaka on March 10 allegedly by unidentified men who introduced themselves as detectives.

After remaining missing for around two months, he was found in Shillong, the capital of northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya, on May 11 and he was arrested the following day.

After his arrest, police admitted Salahuddin to a mental hospital as they found him "mentally unstable." On May 20, he was shifted to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences from Shillong Civil Hospital for better treatment.

Lawyer IC Jha stood for the state while SP Mahanta for Salahuddin during the hearing.