One Shukkur in jail instead of another
Yet another case has been revealed, like that of Jahalam who languished behind bars for three years, where the wrong person has been sent to jail due to police mistaking his identity. This time it is Shukkur Shah, mistaken as Shukkur Ali, an alleged drug dealer.
The special judge court in Dhaka acquitted Shukkur Shah on Tuesday as the police admitted their mistake.
The court confirmed that Shukkur Shah was released Tuesday night.
“it is unfortunate that Shukkur Shah had to stay behind bars due to the police’s mistake,” said his lawyer Mezbah Uddin.
Citing the mistake was not deliberate, officer-in-charge of Hazaribagh police station told Prothom Alo, “We made the mistake due to the similarity in their names. We apologise to the court.”
The name of the real accused is Shukkur Ali from Hazaribagh. The documents show that Shukkur Ali was 37 when he was first arrested. His father, Abul Kashem, is deceased.
His address is registered as 195/2 Hazaribagh Road in both the case statement and the charge sheet.
On the other hand, when Shukkur Shah was arrested in another drug related case he was 30 years old. He was granted bail in the case after three months of his arrest. He hails from Nagorbari village of Agailjhara upazila in Barishal . Although his father’s name is also Abul Kashem, he is alive. Shukkur Shah’s present address was registered to be in Hazaribagh.
“My son had to languish in jail for a year. I want those who are responsible for this to be punished,” Shukkur’s father told the Prothom Alo correspondent.
How it started
According to the court, an accused named Shukkur Ali was arrested in drug related case. Narcotics control department filed the case with Shahbagh police station on 27 February in 2011. The trial of the began after 13 September the same year.
He was later granted bail on 20 June in 2012. He went into hiding after 12 February in 2013. The court later issued his arrest order on 3 April but the police failed to arrest him till March of 2018.
The sub-inspector of Hazaribagh police station submitted a report in the court that said, Shukkur Ali is in jail, being arrested on 3 March in another drug related case with Hazaribagh police station. he should be shown arrested in this case.
Following the police plea the court ordered the jail authorities to produce Shukkur Ali, who was in fact Shukkur Shah, before the court.
Shukkur Ali or Shukkur Shah?
Shukkur Shah was arrested in a narcotics case and secured bail within three months, his lawyer Mejbah Uddin said. But police shown Shukkur Shah arrested in another case as Shukkur Ali.
On 8 March, Mejbah Uddin filed a plea with the court saying that Shukkur Shah is not Shukkur Ali and not an accused in the case. The court then directed the Hazaribagh police station officer-in-charge (OC) and senior jail super to investigate the incident.
Court sources said the jail authorities submitted their report on 3 October last year. It said they grilled the accused who said he is not Shukkur Ali.
Shukkur Shah’s identity restored
Mofazzal Hossain, narcotics control department police inspector and investigation officer (IO) of the lawsuit that accused Shukkur Ali, appeared before the court for deposition on 3 January this year. Seeing Shukkur Shah in the witness-box, he said, “I didn’t arrest this man.”
Saying that the reports of police and jail are contradictory, the court summoned the jail super Iqbal Kabir Chowdhury and Hazaraibagh police station OC Ikram Ali Miah on Tuesday. They alongside sub-inspector Mominul appeared before the court.
Jail superintendent Iqbal Kabir Chowdhury submitted a report with the photograph of the main accused Shukkur Ali. The report read, the main accused was released on bail already.
“Both of their names are Shukkur. Also their fathers’ names match. The mistake happened because of that,” said the officer in charge of Hazaribagh police station, claiming the mistake was not intentional.
*This report, originally appeared in Prothom Alo Bangla online, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat.