The High Court on Monday summoned two investigating officers in Chattogram to appear before it on 1 September in connection with the imprisonment of Minu Akhter and subsequent death in a road accident, reports UNB.
The HC bench of justice Jahangir Hossain and justice Md Atoar Rahman asked the two IOs—sub-inspector of Kotwali police station Zubaiyer Mridha and sub-inspector of Bayezid Bostami police station Khorshed Alam—to appear before the court with the case documents, including post-mortem report of Minu’s death and her confessional statement on how she went to jail instead of another woman Kulsum Akter in a murder case.
Lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir filed a petition seeking inquiry about the death of Minu 12 days after she was released from jail.
Deputy attorney general Mohammad Sarwar Hossain represented the state.
Lawyer Shishir said “Minu Akhter spent three years in jail for a crime she did not commit and she died in a road accident after 12 days of getting released from jail. The death of Minu should be brought under scrutiny.”
It was Kulsum who was sentenced to life in a murder case. But Minu, a poor woman, impersonated as Kulsum and went to jail for money given by the actual convict.
Minu was freed on 16 June this year three years into the sentence after her case was brought to the High Court.
Besides, the court ordered the special public prosecutor of Chattogram Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 MA Naser and junior lawyers Nurul Anwar and Bibekananda Chowdhury and clerk Showrabh to submit written explanations about their role in the fraudulent act within two weeks.
In October 2007, Kulsum was arrested in a case filed over a garment worker’s murder in 2006.
Two years later she was freed after being granted bail by a Chattogram court.
On 30 November 2017 Chattogram fourth additional metropolitan session court found Kulsum guilty and sentenced her to life in prison, besides asking her to pay a fine of TK 50,000.
On 12 June 2018 Minu, pretending to be Kulsum, surrendered to police and began spending time behind bars. According to case proceedings, she did it for money.
In 2019 lawyer Iqbal Hossain filed a petition on the sentence passed by the lower court on behalf of Minu, pretending to be Kulsum.
Following which the case document was sent to the High Court on 12 June the same year.
On 18 March this year, senior jail super of Chattogram central jail Md Safiqul Islam Khan noticed the issue of fraudulence and brought the matter to Chattogram court’s notice.
Following the court’s order Minu was brought before court on 22 March.
In the court Minu said, “Three years back a woman named Morzina, promising to give me some rice, sent me to jail and said after Ramadan she will bring me out.”
Later a sub-document of the case was sent to the high court and lawyer Shishir Munir presented it before court.
The accused of the case Kulsum was a housewife living in Rahmatganj under Kotwali police station with her husband.
Minu used to live in a slum in the city with her three children before ending up in jail as Kulsum.
On 28 June, Minu Akter died in a road crash on the city's Bayezid link road.
Unable to identify the body, Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a welfare organization buried her body as an unclaimed one.
Officer-in-charge of Bayezid Bostami police station Md Kamruzzaman said an unidentified body of a woman was recovered from the road and later buried by Anjuman Mufidul Islam.
Later, Minu’s brother Rubel identified the body as his sister's when a police team went to Sitakundu and showed him a photo.
On 4 July, police filed a case with Bayezid Bostami Police Station in this connection.
On 29 July, police arrested Kulsum and a case was filed against her with Kotwali police station.