No more 'mistakenly' arresting the wrong person

Filing false or harassing cases has become an integral part of the existing judicial system in the country. Many people intentionally, and sometimes mistakenly, fall victim to such harassing cases. According to the law, if someone is mistakenly made a party to a case or excluded from it, the case is not affected. It continues at its own pace. However, it is very unfortunate to harass someone by 'mistakenly' arresting the wrong person.

According to a report published on July 29 in a daily news paper, there is an arrest warrant against Momtaz, a resident of Bagbari in Kaunia Upazila of Rangpur, for loan default. However, the police arrested Sharmin, nicknamed Momtaz, from Purbo Chandghat, and detained her at the police station overnight with her child. The police even claimed that another person was her husband. The next day, she was sent to court, where the judge granted her bail. Meanwhile, this incident has caused a rift in Sharmin's family. Her husband, Sekendar Ali, has now refused to accept her as his wife and has stopped providing for her. Due to the police's mistake, Sharmin's family is now on the verge of breaking apart.

In the country, mistakenly arresting and sending the wrong person to jail is not a new occurrence. Such repeated mistakes are concerning for the nation and raise questions in the public mind about the role of the police in maintaining law and order.

In this context, a notable incident can be mentioned: In 2014, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed 33 cases against a person named Abu Salek for an alleged fraud of approximately 18 crore takas from Sonali Bank. However, the police mistakenly identified Jahalam, a worker at the Bangladesh Jute Mill in Ghorashal, Narsingdi, as the accused. Jahalam then went to the ACC and stated that he was not Abu Salek and that he had no account with Sonali Bank.

The photo used to open Abu Salek's bank account was also not his. However, various bank officials present at the ACC that day identified Jahalam as Abu Salek. Later, in February 2016, the ACC arrested Jahalam from Ghorashal. Later, when the issue of Jahalam’s mistaken identity was clarified in court, he was proven innocent. In the 2019 verdict of that case, the High Court stated, "Arresting an innocent person without verification is a punishable offense." The court directed to explain why no punitive action would not be taken against the police officers for arresting the wrong person without proper verification.

Despite the fact that arresting an innocent person is a punishable offense, we have not seen any effective action taken against the accused individuals to date. Therefore, we hope that Sharmin, who was 'mistakenly' arrested, will receive justice and appropriate compensation. It is our sincere wish that such measures will be taken.