Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh Case: NIA Witness Claims Cataract, Defence Questions Signature Validity; Next Court Hearing On May 4

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A witness for National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) activities case, said that he could not read small letters and had impaired vision due to cataract.

During cross-examination, he stated that he put his signature on an NIA search report regarding the house of Ali Asgar in Jama Masjid in Champaran district, Bihar.

The cross-examination of the witness was conducted at Bhopal District and Sessions Court recently. The next hearing will be on May 4.

Advocate Deepak Bundela who appeared on behalf of Asgar said, “Witness Ram Oraon, on one hand, says that he put his signature on the NIA search paper in the house of Ali Asgar. On the other hand, he states that he has a cataract in his eye and cannot see or read small letters. Both things are contradictory. If he can’t read, then how did he sign on NIA search paper?”

The witness, Ram Oraon of Ranchi, Jharkhand, was produced in the District and Sessions Court, Bhopal. The NIA made Oraon a witness in the arrest of Asgar, also known as Abdullah Bihari, in the JMB activities case. Asgar was arrested from Champaran, Bihar. In January 2023, the NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet against one of the key operatives identified as Asgar, a Bihar resident involved in this module.

Oraon in his statement said, “I was posted as circle officer in revenue department on July 19, 2022. I was called at Dhaka police station of East Champaran district of Bihar. I was taken to Jama Masjid where the house of Ali Asgar was located. NIA conducted a search of the house and recovered two mobile handsets, a pen drive, a laptop, four diaries and loose paper. NIA prepared a report and took my signature.”

Advocate Deepak Bundela, Asgar's counsel said, “Witness Ram Oraon, on one hand, says that he put his signature on the NIA search paper in the house of Ali Asgar. On the other hand, he states that he has a cataract in his eye and cannot see or read small letters. Both things are contradictory. If he can’t read, then how did he sign on NIA search paper?”