Staff Reporter :
Jahalam, who was finally released from jail after three years in prison in spite of being innocent, demanded punishment to the officials of Anti-Corruption Commission for their wrong investigation.
Jute mills worker Jahalam at the same time demanded compensation for his sufferings in jail in the false cases.
“I have suffered a lot. Who will return my days passed in the jail? I want compensation and justice. The Prime Minister only can ensure it,” Jahalam said.
Freed from jail
He said this while talking with the reporters just after release from Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur on Monday noon.
Jahalam was released after the jail authorities received the order of the High Court with instruction to release within the day.
His elder brother Shahnur received him at the jail gate with tearful eyes. They hugged each other.
We are going to our village home at Dhuburia under Nagarpur upazila in Tangail.
“The ACC has kept me in jail for three years in a false case. I want justice,” Jahalam said expressing his grievance to journalists.
“I have spent many painful days in prison because of them. I worked as a servant in the prison ward. I had previously told ACC that I am Jahalom, not Saleque. But they did not believe me,” he said. “I thank the court for releasing me. I never thought that I would be freed from jail. I am very happy today,” Jahalam said.
A High Court division bench comprising Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader passed the order yesterday, asking to acquit Jahalam from 26 graft cases, where he was wrongly implicated.
‘We are not in support of keeping an innocent for even a minute behind bars,’ the court said in its order.
The court also asked ACC to identify the persons behind the botched investigation, or else, the court has to ‘intervene’ in this.
A total of 33 cases were filed against one Abu Salek for misappropriating around Tk 18.5 crore of Sonali Bank. The ACC filed charge sheet in 26 of those cases, identifying Jahalam as Abu Salek.
Jahalam at that time went to ACC office and pleaded not guilty, saying he was not Abu Salek.
His plea unfortunately went unheard.
Jahalam was arrested in the cases on February 6, 2016, and was being rotting in jail since then.
Recently a national daily published a report titled “Sir, Ami Jahalom, Saleque Na” where it described details.
The Supreme Court lawyer Amit Das Gupta drew court’s attention to that. Later, the court took the initiative to free Jahalam.
Meanwhile, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has formed a committee to investigate the matter of Jaha Alam, the innocent man who was kept in prison wrongly for three years.
ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood made the declaration on Monday and said the commission’s legal wing Director Abu Hasnat Md Abdul Wadud will be heading the body.
“We formed the committee to look into the irregularities in the entire matter,” he said.
