Army to provide legal assistance to detained veteran, assures all help to Mohammed Sanaullah's family in Assam

52-year-old Mohammed Sanaullah from Kolohikas village in Kamrup district was declared a ‘foreigner’ by the Boko Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) on May 23. He was detained by police on Tuesday.

According to the Army, Sanaullah narrated the reasons leading to the FT verdict - the primary reason he cited was the variation in the year of enrollment in Indian Army. Sanaullah stated that his enrollment year as per documents is 1987. However, during initial verification, the year of enrollment was recorded as 1978.

He said the tribunal was of the view that it was not possible for an 11-year-old to be enrolled in the army and held him against giving false information possibly to conceal identity or facts. Sanaullah said the tribunal did not take into account any of his service documents that would have avoided the confusion.

Another reason stated was a mismatch in the personal and family details submitted by Assam Border Police, which was recorded during his questioning in 2008, and his statement before the tribunal.

Sanaullah said he was never summoned by Assam Border Police and is ‘totally unaware’ of an FIR lodged against him in 2008 that accused him of being a ‘foreigner’. Other reasons include discrepancy in the age of his mother and sister, which according to NRC records suggest that his sister is older to his mother.

The court also passed the judgement taking into consideration a land document he had submitted as evidence of citizenship - the land was found transferred on his name in the year 1977 when he was merely 10 years old.

The tribunal questioned as to how the land could be transferred in the name of a minor when his mother was still alive since his father passed away in 1973. Besides, it was also noted that the voter ID card issued to him in the year 1987 showed his age as 22 when actually he was a 20-year-old then.

After retiring as a soldier, Sanaullah had been serving as sub-inspector of Assam Border Police at the Baihata Chariali police station under Kamrup rural district.

During his military career, he had taken part in three counter-insurgency operations while being posted with 26 Rashtriya Rifles in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir and 33 Field Workshop in Kupwara near Line of Control (LoC) from 2015 to 2017. He was also part of CI operations in Imphal West district of Manipur from 2007-2010.