Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday pulled up Bengal govt for detaining a Murshidabad resident for more than a month without providing him any reason why he was suspected of being a Bangladeshi.
Sahidul Sheikh, a resident of Dubapara village, was picked up by Raninagar police on Aug 8 and has since been in the custody of the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO). The Murshidabad SP, who also serves as FRRO, was directed to file a report within 10 days disclosing steps taken by the state. The case will be heard again on Oct 8. Their counsel told the court that Sahidul is an Indian citizen and his name was verified and listed in SIR 2026.
It doesn’t happen like that,” he said. The court ordered the state to hand over Sahidul’s ‘detention/arrest memo’ to his counsel by Saturday and directed Raninagar Police Station officer in charge to file an affidavit within a fortnight stating the basis of his detention. Sahidul’s wife, Dejina Bibi, had moved Calcutta High Court alleging that her husband was illegally detained by police for being a Bangladeshi. He has a valid voter card, PAN card and Aadhaar card. Justice Bhattacharyya pointed out it was unclear whether Sahidul had admitted these before cops or the FRRO. “How long will this verification process continue? It has not been detected when he crossed the border. Many people crossed it in the 70s. How can this person be detained for such a long time?” the judge asked. The state’s counsel submitted that Sahidul was picked up based on inputs from FRRO. “Raninagar police station is not going around picking up people. The memo describes how it is done. Bengal police officers are not going around randomly picking people up. He also opposed handing over the memo to Sahidul’s counsel citing the Official Secrets Act, but his objection was overruled by Justice Bhattacharyya.
On the alleged fraudulent inclusion in SIR, the judge said, “Then, you need to initiate proceedings against the officer… A person has been detained from Aug 8 and we are in mid-Sept, and a document cannot be handed over?…Will the person be detained without being given any reason?” Justice Bhattacharyya also queried on what basis Sahidul’s credentials were deemed invalid.