Police in Assam detained a Kargil war veteran and serving police officer on Wednesday after a court declared him a foreigner, in one of the most controversial outcomes of India’s effort to clamp down on illegal immigration from neighbouring Bangladesh.
Millions of people in Assam are scrambling to prove their citizenship after the government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, mandated residents of Assam to produce documents proving that they or their families lived in the country before March 24, 1971.
Police said they sent Mohammed Sana Ullah, 52, to a detention centre in Assam based on the order of a Foreigners’ Tribunal.
"He served the Indian army for 30 years but was declared as a foreigner ... and as per prescribed norms we have sent him to the detention camp," Mousumi Kalita, a senior police official in Assam, told journalists.
"We only abide by the tribunal’s order and not aware on what grounds or why he was declared a foreigner."
Mohammed Sana Ullah’s lawyer said it was a case of mistaken identity as the order cited his client as a labourer who came to India after 1971 without legal documents. Ullah’s family said they had Assam land records going back to 1935.
Lawyer Aman Wadud, who has handled dozens of cases of illegal immigration in Assam, said he would challenge the order in a higher court on Thursday.