Mohammad Sanaullah – the ex army man who was detained for being an ‘illegal foreigner’ on May 29 – was recently released from jail and shared his plight thereupon.
Talking to Indian Express, he said:
Entering through the prison gate, I cried and cried. I asked myself what sin have I committed that after serving my motherland for three decades, including at the LoC in Kupwara, I am being detained like a foreigner.
Sanaullah had joined the Indian Army on May 21, 1987 and retired with the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) in August 2017.
After his retirement, Sanaullah joined the Border wing of Assam Police where he got into trouble with documents and declaration of his date of joining the Army.
Later, a case was filed against him, which he lost and had to go to jail.
Speaking of the traumatic procedure, he said:
The officers who arrested me were my senior colleagues. They followed the procedure as required after an FT order. On May 28 evening, I was called by a DSP to North Guwahati police station. I had an apprehension that it could be related to my detention as per the procedure. At the station, I had to sit through the night, without a place to sleep.
He further added:
Next day, around 7 pm, I entered the detention centre in Goalpara. The prison cell where I was kept there had probably 40-odd people. They gave me two blankets, a mosquito-net and a plate and a glass.