Send back Sukhoranjan Bali: Kolkata HC

The Kolkata High Court has ordered authorities to send Sukhoranjan Bali, a witness in convicted war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s case, back to Bangladesh.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 6 August 2013, 07:21 PM
Updated : 6 August 2013, 07:31 PM

The BBC Bangla reported that the court on Tuesday rejected a petition filed by Bali’s family seeking orders to not push him back.

According to the report, “Justice Sanjeeb Banarjee said Sukhoranjan Bali, detained in India, could be handed over to Bangladesh anytime after two weeks.”

Last Friday the Supreme Court in Delhi stayed deportation for two weeks.

Media reports suggest that Bali was arrested by the Border Security Force (BSF) while trying to enter India illegally on Dec 23 after he mysteriously disappeared from International Crimes Tribunal premises in Dhaka on Nov 5.

But BSF had recorded his name as Sukhoranjan Bala in the case lodged against him in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas.

Though the name was a bit different, his other personal particulars match that of Sukhoranjan Bali, a prosecution witness in Sayedee’s case who later turned hostile.

The Jamaat leader was condemned to death for killing Sukhoranjan’s brother Bisa Bali and for several other crimes committed during 1971 Liberation War.

After he went missing, Sayedee’s lawyers alleged that he was ‘subjected to forced disappearance by the government’ as he turned hostile during the case hearing.

The Kokalta court in the Tuesday verdict said that the department concerned would take measures to send Bali back to Bangladesh after Aug 20.

The BBC report quoted Justice Banarjee as saying that Bali’s family could not substantiate their claim and fear that his life would be at stake if he was handed over to Bangladesh.

After arrest, Bali was handed over to Swarupnagar Police Station in North 24 Parganas district and produced in court on charges of infiltration.

A Bashirhat court on April 3 punished him under Section 14 of India’s Foreigners Act and ordered the authorities to send him back to Bangladesh after the brief imprisonment.

The Bangladesh mission in Kolkata earlier said they knew nothing Bali’s detention in India.

Bali has the right to appeal against the High Court verdict at the Supreme Court.

The BBC said he could also seek refuge from Indian government and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.