At least 13 foreigners released from detention in Assam after SC order

Nine of the 13 were released in Goalpara district and four in Lakhimpur district.

At least 13 people who have been in detention between two and more than nine years have been released in Assam so far this month following a Supreme Court order in May which directed that declared foreigners who have served more than three years in detention can be conditionally released, police said.

In May, the Supreme Court directed the Assam government that foreigners who have served more than three years in detention can be conditionally released.(Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

Nine of the 13 were released in Goalpara.

“Nine people including a woman who were in detention have been released on bail after they fulfilled the conditions,” said Sushanta Biswa Sarma, Superintendent of Police, Goalpara.

According to officials, the nine include 65-year-old Md Noor Mahammad who had been in detention since January 2010, Robi Dey, Sujit Sarkar, Rahim Ali, Md Batchu SK, Shyamal Ghosh who were been in detention since 2015, Sudhan Sarkar, Md Sanaullah Sk and Aruna Das, the only woman on the list were in detention since 2016.

Faruq Ahmed, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur district of Upper Assam said four people from the district were released recently. Three of them were lodged in a detention centre in Tezpur and one was lodged in Kokrajhar.

In July, Assam’s Home and Political department, notified the conditions for release which included two sureties of ₹1,00,000 each, a verifiable address, collection of their bio-metric information including all ten fingerprints and iris, if possible, and photos which shall be captured and kept in a secured database. The notification came following a Supreme Court order on May 10.

Those released must report to a police station every week. Those who violate the conditions will be apprehended and detained, the notification said.

In Dhubri district, a police official said the list of those eligible for release has been sent to headquarters.

Meanwhile, families of those in detention claimed it has taken a toll on their health.

“His health has suffered in detention camp. His mental health, too, has taken a turn for the worse. He can barely talk,” said Ibrahim Ali, Mahammad’s cousin.

According to figures tabled in Assam legislative assembly recently, 335 out of 1145 people in detention in six detention centres which run out of jails have completed three years.