Shillong, Dec. 8: The trial against former Bangladesh MP and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Salahuddin Ahmed, who is being charged with landing here illegally, is getting delayed. Nearly seven months have passed since he was arrested.

Today, the trial was scheduled to take place in a lower court here, but was deferred as one of the witnesses could not appear before the court.

Sources said investigating officer P. Lamare was supposed to depose as a witness before the court today, but he failed to come on time.

"The police officer came to the court after 12, following which the court decided to defer the matter. The witness (officer) may be called in the next hearing to be fixed by the court," sources said.

Earlier, the trial was also deferred since the judge of a lower court had taken leave following which the case was transferred to another court.

In the past seven months, the court had called a few witnesses, including police officers and constables from Meghalaya police as well as doctors from Meghalaya Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (MIMHANS) and Shillong civil hospital, as a part of the trial.

On May 11, Ahmed was spotted by some people around 5.30am in the Golf Link area here. They informed police that an individual was found moving "suspiciously and aimlessly" in the area.

Meghalaya police claimed that when they questioned Ahmed, they found him speaking incomprehensibly after which they referred him to MIMHANS for treatment. There Ahmed was found to be mentally sound and referred to Shillong civil hospital for treatment.

Ahmed claimed he was kidnapped in Bangladesh and did not know how he landed here.

The court has framed charges against Ahmed under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, for surfacing in India (Shillong) without valid documents.