Kargil veteran Mohammad Sana Ullah granted interim bail

June 7: In a latest development, Kargil War veteran Mohammad Sana Ullah who was declared a “foreigner” and lodged in a detention centre in Assam was granted interim bail on 7 June by the Gauhati High Court. Sana Ullah asked to furnish a bail bond of Rs 20,000 with “two local sureties of the like amount”. Further, the High Court also asked him to provide his biometrics and directed him not to go out of the state.

Another surprising issue which came up in the High Court is regarding his passport. It was stated in the investigation report against Sanaullah that he does not possess passport. However, his advocate presented before the judges the passport of Mohammed Sanaullah, which was issued in 1994.

After Boko Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam declared 52-year-old Mohammed Sanaullah from Kolohikas village in Assam’s Kamrup district as a ‘foreigner’ on 23 May, he was arrested and sent to detention camp. The Assam police have detained Sana Ullah from his residence on May 28 following the order of the Foreigners’ Tribunal at Boko.

Further, the Gauhati High Court also issued notices to the Assam Government, the Government of India, Election Commission of India, National Register Of Citizens office and the then investigating officer Chandramal Das while hearing a writ petition.

Three Boko residents–Amjad Ali Ahmed, Sobahan Ali and Kuran Ali—on Sunday separately lodged complaints with Boko police station against Border police official Chandramal Das, who was the investigating offer of the Army veteran Sanaullah case. Investigating officer Das in his inquiry report mentioned the three persons as “witnesses” in the Sanaullah case. They claimed that investigating officer Das forged their signatures and mentioned them as witnesses in the report. However, in an interview with local media, the enquiry officer claimed that he never met Sanaullah and the person he enquired was not him but somebody else.

Mohammed Sanaullah retired as a Honourary Captain of Indian Army in 2017. In 2014, Sonaullah was also conferred upon a Presidents’ Certificate for his promotion to the rank of Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). Born in 1967 to one Mohammed Ali of Kalahikash village under Boko in Kamrup district, Sonaullah had joined the Indian Army in 1987 and served for 30 years. After his retirement from the Army, Sonaullah had joined the Assam Police Border Branch as a Sub Inspector.

Meanwhile, senior advocate Hafiz Rashid Choudhury and two other advocates have filed a petition at Gauhati High Court challenging Foreigners’ Tribunal’s order. Sanaullah’s counsel Aman Wadue claimed that the case against the retired Army official is “fabricated” as he was on a counter-insurgency operation in Manipur at the time police said to have taken his statement in Assam.

A petition has been filed by his family at the Gauhati High Court challenging the order passed by the Foreigners’ Tribunal. Assam’s Directorate of Sainik Welfare has offered to provide legal assistance to Sana Ullah. The case against Sana Ullah was registered at the Foreigners’ Tribunal in 2009. However, he came to know about it only in 2017. He had joined the army in 1987 and had taken part in the Kargil war of 1999. A petition by him mentioned that no inquiry officer visited his house and that no notice has ever been served to him.