Assam: Police in Guwahati has arrested an Indian Army Kargil war veteran, an honorary Lieutenant, after he was declared foreigner here. His family has moved court.
The family of war veteran has approached the Gauhati High Court on Wednesday, after he was sent to a detention centre for foreigners or illegal migrants.
The Hindu reported that Mohammed Sanaullah, who retired as an honorary Lieutenant in the Army, was arrested soon after he was summoned by the Assam Police Border Organisation, or the Border Police, in Guwahati on Tuesday.
The arrest followed the order of a Foreigners’ Tribunal that adjudged him a non-citizen.
“Lt. Sanaullah, 52, ironically, was serving as an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in the Border Police that is tasked with identifying, detaining and deporting doubtful citizens and illegal migrants. This unit of the State police often employs retired defence and paramilitary personnel,” report reads.
Exactly 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals in Assam hear and dispose of cases of people deemed foreigners by the Border Police.
A Foreigners’ Tribunal in Boko had served notice on Mr. Sanaullah last year. He appeared before the tribunal at five hearings. At least six other retired personnel of the Army and paramilitary forces have been served such notices.
Sanaullah’s cousin Mohammed Ajmal Hoque from Boko said questioned the tribunals declaration saying “Is this his reward for giving 30 years of his life to the Army defending the country, including fighting in the Kargil War?”
Hoque, himself retired as a junior commissioned officer in the Army, was also served notice by a Foreigners’ Tribunal. The case was disposed of and the Border Police apologised to him after finding out it had served the notice on the “wrong Ajmal Hoque.”
“Sanaullah joined the Army in 1987, twenty years after his birth in Assam. He joined the Border Police after retiring from the Army in 2017. He had, at one of the hearings, mistakenly mentioned the year of his joining the Army as 1978. Based on this mistake, the tribunal declared him a foreigner, arguing that nobody can join the Army at the age of 11,” Mr. Hoque said.
Mr. Sanaullah voted in the last parliamentary election.
(Courtesy The Hindu)
