Mistaken identity: His dream was to see Taj Mahal, but he remains imprisoned for almost two decades

Badal Faraji, who has been languishing in Kashimpur prison for three years, had only one fault: he wanted to see the Taj Mahal.

That mistake cost him, starting with 10 years served 10 years in an Indian prison over a murder case, where he was wrongly convicted.

Then he was sent to Kashimpur prison, awaiting India's approval for his release.

Badal's father passed away from the grief of not being able to see his son again, and his elderly mother is bedridden.

Her last wish is to see her son's face before she dies, but there is no certainty about when that will happen.

Badal Faraji hails from Morshed Road area near Mongla Port in Bagerhat and is the son of the late Abdul Khalek Faraji and Shefali Begum.

On 13 July 2008, Badal, with a valid visa and passport, travelled to India to see the Taj Mahal.

His name, however, sent alarm bells ringing.

The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) mistakenly detained him at the India-Bangladesh border, thinking he was Badal Singh, an Indian involved in a murder.

He was later convicted of a murder in Delhi on 6 May 2008, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Badal's sister, Aklima Khatun, said, "My brother has been imprisoned for life, and after three years [of completing sentence], he is still not free. My father died in pain, and my mother is bedridden. Her last wish is to see her son before she dies. We hope the government will take steps for his release."

She added, "The last time I saw my brother was on 17 November last year [2024]. I met with the former home minister Asaduzzaman, who promised to help, but no action was taken."

According to jail sources, during a routine inspection of the Kashimpur Central Jail in January this year, Gazipur's District Commissioner Nafisa Arefin took note of Badal's case and contacted higher authorities, urging them to take action for his release.

Despite this, the matter remains unresolved.

"After Badal Faraji arrived here, the district magistrate took notice and informed higher authorities. We have also sent letters, and we are awaiting government instructions for further action," Senior Jail Superintendent Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of Gazipur's Kashimpur Central Jail-1 confirmed.

From dream visit to nightmare

Badal, who had completed his eighth grade and worked as a mechanic with his father, had no idea that his wish to visit the Taj Mahal would lead to such an unfortunate outcome.

After completing immigration at the Benapole land port, he was detained by the BSF at the Haridaspur border.

At the time, India was on alert for Badal Singh, the real suspect in a Delhi murder case, and Badal Faraji was wrongly detained in his place.

Sources say that Badal Faraji's ordeal began when he was misidentified as Badal Singh and transferred to the Indian police.

Subsequently, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code on 7 August 2015.

Though Badal appealed in the Delhi High Court, the verdict remained unchanged. On 7 July 2018, after serving over 10 years in Delhi's Tihar Jail, a prisoner exchange agreement allowed him to be repatriated to Bangladesh.

He was initially held in Dhaka's Keraniganj Central Jail before being transferred to Gazipur's Kashimpur Central Jail-1 on 16 November 2022.

According to prison officials, under Indian law, life imprisonment lasts for 14 years, and thus, Badal's sentence should have ended by 20 July 2022.

However, due to the lack of cooperation from Indian authorities, he remains incarcerated, even after an additional three years.

Officials have stated that under the prisoner exchange agreement, approval from the court that issued the sentence is required for the release of a convicted prisoner.

Even though multiple requests were sent to Indian authorities for approval after Badal's sentence concluded in August 2022, there has been no response.