BNP leader Salahuddin says he was kidnapped from Uttara

Salahuddin Ahmed, the joint secretary general of BNP who went missing for over two months, says he does not know how he surfaced in this mountainous state capital of Meghalaya on Monday morning.

Ahmed, who identified himself as a senior political leader of BNP, claimed that he was kidnapped by unidentified group of people from Uttara in capital Dhaka on the night of March 10.

“Yes, I am Salahuddin Ahmed, a BNP leader. I was kidnapped by a group of unidentified people from Uttara in Bangladesh and I do not know how I landed in this place (Shillong),” Ahmed told bdnews24.com before he was admitted to the Under Trial Prisoner cell in Shillong Civil Hospital.

"I can’t remember anything after I was abducted."

A Meghalaya police official said Ahmed was detained by city patrol police early on Monday morning from Golf Link.

Local people in the area had alerted police about the suspicious movement of the individual in and around that area.

“Initially, we picked up the individual for interrogation at Pasteur beat house. On interrogation, Ahmed claimed himself to be a Bangladeshi national and a former minister of that country.

“However, he failed to produce any paper to prove his identity and citizenship,” Mariahom Kharkrang, the district police chief of East Khasi Hills, told bdnews24.com.

“We took him to the Shillong Civil Hospital for medical check up before he was again brought back to the police station. However, the police officials who interrogated him found that he was not speaking coherently.

“Hence, we referred him to MIMHANS (Meghalaya Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences). However, he was found to be mentally sound,” the police official said.

However, Kharkrang said Meghalaya police had registered a case against Ahmed under the Foreigners Act, 1946. But police have not been able to interrogate Ahmed as he was still in hospital.

Salahuddin Ahmed being carried away face covered from one hospital to another in India

“We have not been able to talk to him much.”

“But officials from the Police Headquarters have taken up the case with the Bangladesh High Commission to ascertain Ahmed’s identity as he had claimed that he was a former MP and minister in Bangladesh.”

MIMHANS officials said Ahmed was brought by the local police from Pasteur beat house under the Shillong city limits to the mental hospital at around 11:30am on Monday.

“We admitted him (Ahmed), and we kept him under observation. According to the patient, he was suffering from some physical ailments, but we found him to be mentally fit.

“As he was mentally fit, but was suffering from physical problems, we transferred him to the Shillong Civil Hospital this afternoon,” a MIMHANS official said, requesting anonymity.

“We tried to ascertain his identity and his place of origin. He also requested us doctors to allow him to make a call to his wife, as he was not carrying any mobile phone,” he said.

Ahmed’s wife Hasina Ahmed told journalists that she received a phone call from her husband on Tuesday.

“My husband told me that he is alright and we are trying to reach to him as soon as possible. We seek cooperation from all,” she told the media at her Gulshan home in Dhaka.

Local journalist Chandrani Sinha spoke to Meghalaya police's Inspector General GHP Raju on what they planned to do with Salahuddin Ahmed. 

“We have informed Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi about Salahuddin Ahmed,”  he said. 

"We are waiting for their response."