Man freed after serving 52 days in prison for another's death sentence

Sona Mia, who spent 52 days in Cox's Bazar District Jail after being mistakenly arrested as a death-row convict in a 190,000-yaba case, was released on bail yesterday (14 August) after a police investigation established that he was not the accused.

Sona Mia was arrested by RAB-15 on 23 June on a warrant issued against the accused named in the case. After arriving at the jail, he told the authorities that he had never been involved in the case and learned there that he had been sentenced to death.

The case dates back to 2 March 2020, when Cox's Bazar DB police arrested five people with 190,000 yaba tablets. One of them identified himself as Sona Mia and was named as the second accused. His father's name and address matched those of the real Sona Mia, based on a photocopy of his birth registration found with the arrested person.

The then investigation officer, DB Inspector Manas Barua, submitted the charge sheet in September 2020. It stated that police had failed to verify the name and address of the second accused. The accused nevertheless secured bail from the Cox's Bazar District and Sessions Court in June 2022 and later went into hiding.

The court subsequently sentenced five accused to death in the case, with 'Sona Mia' among them. Following the 2026 arrest, however, the real Sona Mia applied to the jail superintendent, saying he was not the person convicted in the case.

A police investigation ordered by the court found that the person arrested in 2020 and the man arrested in June 2026 were different. The 2020 accused was identified as Ramzan, a Rohingya man who had allegedly used Sona Mia's birth registration to conceal his identity.

According to the police report, Ramzan and Sona Mia had lived in the same Rohingya camp and later stayed together in Kutubdiapara, Cox's Bazar. Ramzan allegedly retained Sona Mia's birth registration and used it to identify himself when arrested.

Police and jail records also showed significant differences in the two men's photographs, mothers' and wives' names, family details, height, weight and identifying marks.

Cox's Bazar Sadar Police OC Sheikh Mohammad Ali confirmed that the investigation found Sona Mia was not the death-row convict. The court then ordered his release and instructed police to identify and arrest the actual accused.

Cox's Bazar District Bar Association President Md Abdul Mannan said the court granted bail with four conditions: Sona Mia must surrender his NID or passport, report to police regularly, remain in the country and appear before the court periodically.

He also alleged serious negligence in the original investigation, saying the actual identity of the accused should have been established before the charge sheet was filed.

Sona Mia, a day labourer, said after his release that it felt like his "second birth". He thanked the lawyer, police, journalists and jail authorities for helping establish his identity.