Staff Reporter :
It is not clear till today who or which officer gave permission to the woman who spent time with an inmate, Tushar Ahmed, General Manager (GM) of Hallmark Group, at a prison office room in Kashimpur Central Jail-1 on January 6 this year.
A total of three investigation reports have been submitted to the Home Ministry in this regard. Sources said, this issue is not clear even from those reports.
Some sources say the woman visitor is the second wife of Tushar Ahmed, while others say she is not a relative, but has other identity. But the question under whose order she was permitted to be inside.
Whatever may her identity, special approval from the authorities was required for a visit with an inmate inside the prisons, as per jail code. The investigation reports are closely guided secret. But the speculation is that there is no finding on this point as to who authorized her entry.
Sources said that the visiting women used to meet Tushar Ahmed regularly. She (the woman) was known to the officials of the Kashimpur Central Jail-1 as a relative of Jailer Nur Mohammad Mridha. That is why she received special treatment in that prison.
Tushar, brother-in-law of Hallmark Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud, was allowed a visitor in violation of the coronavirus restrictions.
Three committees, one formed by the ministry, one by the district administration and one by the jail department, investigated the incident, said Abul Kalam, Additional District Magistrate of Gazipur who also was a member of a committee.
In the video footage, Tushar was seen walking around wearing black clothes in the area where jail officials’ rooms are located shortly before a woman in purple clothes was seen entering from outside and going to the said area around 12:55pm.
The video footage also showed Deputy Jailer Golam Saqlain greeting the woman and leaving a room after the woman walked in. Saqlain came back with Tushar and after around 10 minutes, Jail Superintendent Ratna Roy left her room and two minutes later Tushar went towards Ratna’s room with the woman. Two minutes later, Tushar and the woman returned to Saqlain’s room where they spent about 45 minutes.
The probe committee of the jail department blamed 18 officials of that jail including suspended Jail Superintendent Ratna Roy, Jailer Nur Mohammad Mridha and Deputy Jailer Golam Saqlain in their report submitted to the ministry.
The committee was formed on January 21 headed by Additional Inspector General of Prisons Colonel Md Abrar Hossain. They submitted the report to the ministry on February 3 after completing the investigation.
In the investigation report, the committee has made 25 recommendations including suspension of the 18 officials, disciplinary action as per the rules of service, departmental proceedings, transferring them to district jails instead of central jails and posting them in less important work places.
After the incidents Jail Superintendent Ratna Roy sent a report to the Inspector General of Prisons on January 14 claiming herself innocent. In her report she said that Hallmark Group GM Tushar Ahmed bribed some officials of the prison to get chance to spend time with a woman.
Tushar paid Tk one lakh to Jailer Nur Mohammad Mridha, Tk 25 thousand to Deputy Jailer Golam Saqlain and Tk 5 thousand to each of Sergeant Instructor, Gate Assistant and Chief Prison Guard.
