'Aynabaji' again: Gazipur man goes to prison under another's name for Tk15,000
Despite being sent to jail, the real accused was seen living in his hometown and continuing business activities.
A real-life incident mirroring the film "Aynabaji" has unfolded in Gazipur, where a young man has been jailed in place of the actual accused in a forest department case.
However, this is not the first case, at least three such incidents have surfaced in the last month, said prison officials.
Although the court ordered the imprisonment of Md Sattar Mia, 45, he has been freely roaming his village, while Saiful Islam, 30, took his place in prison in exchange for Tk15,000.
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Gazipur District Jail authorities, after discovering the deception, urgently notified the inspector general of prisons and the Gazipur chief judicial magistrate.
The particular case regarding Sattar stems from a 9 September incident in the Kachighata beat area of Kaliakair, where forest officials were forced to retreat at knifepoint during an illegal tree-cutting operation. Later, the department filed a case naming several individuals.
Mismatched identities
On 7 December, "Sattar" appeared before the Gazipur Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court and was sent to jail. However, investigations later revealed that the real Sattar was at large in his hometown and continuing business activities.
Contacted by phone, Sattar claimed he was "in Maona for business purposes," despite court records showing he should be behind bars.
The inmate who entered jail under Sattar's name was later identified through biometric verification as Saiful Islam, a neighbour of Sattar.
Saiful's father, Rahim Badsha, admitted his son accepted money to impersonate Sattar. "We thought he was at his garment factory job. Later we learned he was in jail. He made a mistake, and we regret it," he said.
Jail authorities' response
Gazipur Jail Superintendent Mohammad Rafiqul Kader said no suspicion arose during admission because the court documents and the individual both gave the same name. "Once doubts emerged, we conducted biometric verification and confirmed it was Saiful, not Sattar," he said.
A senior district administration official, requesting anonymity, said NID verification is usually part of court appearance procedures. "How a lawyer presented the wrong person, and how prison admission also bypassed identification checks, is deeply concerning," he said. An inquiry is set to begin today (10 December).
Repeated attempts to contact Sattar's lawyer, Shyamal Sarker, were unsuccessful.
Earlier on 27 January, another such incident unfolded as a man named Azir Uddin was caught impersonating another person, Nabiz Uddin, in a court hearing for a fraud case after which he was sent to jail.
The deception came to light after Azir's fingerprints were scanned at the Chattogram Jail, revealing his true identity.
Following the revelation, jail authorities informed the court about the impersonation. Azir was produced before the Senior Judicial Magistrate Mahmudul Haque's court yesterday where he admitted that he had been coerced into this act by Nazmul Hossain, the actual accused Nabiz Uddin's brother.
