Bali appeals for asylum in India

Shukharanjan Bali, a key witness in the war crimes case against Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, yesterday sought political asylum in India, reports BBC Bangla Service.
He pleaded with an Indian high court for not sending him back to Bangladesh when his imprisonment for trespassing Indian border was over.
According to his family and lawyers, if he is sent back to Bangladesh he may face harassment.
Bali, who was originally a prosecution witness but later agreed to testify for Sayedee, went missing from the International Crimes Tribunal premises in Dhaka on November 5 last year.
Indian Border Security Force arrested him in Shwarupnagar area of Uttar Chabbish Pargana on December 23 last year for trespassing.
Bali's lawyer Debashish Banarjee said the asylum plea would be placed before the court today (Tuesday) and the procedure for hearing would start this week.
Recently, the Kolkata High Court has dismissed Bali's plea for asylum, as neither Bali nor his family could provide any proof in support of his claim.
The verdict said it would be possible to send him back to Bangladesh any day after August 20.
“Such fear was just an assumption,” the high court of Kolkata observed.