The High Court on Thursday asked the jail authorities to immediately free Md Arman, who has been languishing in Kashimpur Central Jail, Part 2 since January 30, 2016, following his wrongful arrest by the police.
The court also asked the inspector general of police to pay Arman Tk 20 lakh as compensation within 30 days for police’s negligence that led to the detention of the youth for five years.
The online bench of Justice Md. Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim issued the directive after declaring the detention of Arman illegal.
A police report told the HC that the Pallabi police arrested innocent Arman in place of actual fugitive convict Shahabuddin only because of matching of their fathers’ names. Both reside at Biharicamp in Mirpur in the capital.
The court also directed the Police Bureau of Investigation to initiate a departmental inquiry over the negligence of the then Pallabi police station officer-in-charge Dadan Fakhir, the police station’s then inspector Nazrul Islam, the case investigation officer Sirajul Islam Khan and sub-inspector Russell for the wrongful detention of Arman.
The court also directed the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner to withdraw the five police officers from their respective stations and post them to a less important position.
The court pronounced the judgement after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Humayun Kabir Pallob.
Pallob, through his petition, drew the attention of the court to a newspaper report published in Dainik Amadershomoy on April 18, 2019, titled ‘Another Jahalam in jail.
On September 30, the High Court directed the BRAC Bank authorities to pay Jahalam Tk 15 lakh as compensation within 30 days after the bank mistakenly identified him as Abu Salek in a case filed over misappropriation of a fund by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The High Court also ordered the release of Jahalam, who spent three years in jail following his wrongful arrest by the ACC.
The HC found that Pallabi police arrested innocent Arman instead of fugitive convict Shahabuddin Bihari popularly known as Arman.
The police in a probe report said that Shahabuddin was sentenced to 10 years in absentia in a narcotic case.
But the Pallabi police arrested innocent Arman only for matching their father’s names although their full names and addresses were different.
