Kargil war veteran, declared 'foreigner', released from detention centre in Assam

Guwahati: Kargil war veteran Mohammad Sanaullah, who was last month declared a ‘foreigner’ by a tribunal in Assam, walked out of a detention centre on Saturday, a day after the Gauhati High Court granted him bail.

Shortly after his release, Sanaullah was taken to the office of the Kamrup Superintendent of Police at Amingaon to complete formalities, as per the directions of the court, a senior official said.

Later in the day, his family members and well-wishers escorted him to his home in the Boko area of the district, the official added.

A division bench of the high court Friday heard a writ petition along with the Interlocutory Application filed by Sanaullah’s lawyers and granted him bail on two local sureties of Rs 20,000 each.

The bench ruled that Sanaullah cannot leave Kamrup district, of which he is a resident, without the permission of its superintendent of police.

The court also issued notices on respondents, including the Central government, the Assam government, the Foreigners’ Tribunal at Boko, the NRC authorities, the election department and the then inquiry officer Chandramal Das ( now retired), who verified his documents.

The tribunal at Boko had declared 52-year-old Sanaullah a ‘foreigner’ on May 23 and sent him to the detention centre at Goalpara.

The war veteran, who retired from the Army in 2017, was awarded the President’s Medal in 2014.

A resident of Kolohikash village in Boko of Kamrup district, Sanaullah was serving as a sub-inspector in the Assam Border Police before being declared a ‘foreigner’ and dismissed from the service.