Dipon Chandra Das alias Shakil went to prison with six months punishment but he hasn’t secured release after 11 months. However, on Mar 4, the trial court has ordered the authority to release him.

His mother, Dakeshwari Rani says, “My son was handed six months imprisonment but he has spent an additional five months behind bars; when I went to the prison, they said they had not received any papers from the court.”

I have been running around for five months to secure the release of my son, she lamented.

Under the narcotics control act 19 (1) and 9 (a) Shakil was handed six months in prison with Tk 1000 fine and 15 days extra behind bars in case the fine is unpaid.

On Feb 28, 2010, Shakil was arrested by police in Nakhalpara with ten pieces of yaba.

Shakil went on bail on Apr 21, 2013 and absconded.

The case ran for five years, the court took statements of three witnesses and on Mar 10, 2015, Shakil was deemed guilty and handed punishment in absentia.

On Apr 6 last year, Tejgaon police produced Shakil before court and the judge sent him to jail with custody warrant.

Shakil’s lawyer, Hari Kamal De, said, “As per rules, he should have been released after six months.”

I submitted an application on Feb 25 and carried out a hearing; the court requested the documents which showed that punishment warrant was not issued.”

Since the punishment warrant was not issued by the court writer, a person had to spend an additional five months in jail, deplored Kamal.

The writer in question, Emdad said, “While this was due to my error, the prison authority never informed us that a person is behind bars exceeding his imprisonment time.”

Dhaka city public prosecutor, Abdullah Abu told Bangla Tribune, “We must ensure that such an episode is not repeated because it’s highly reprehensible.”

Lawyer Syed Md Aslam said, “In this case, law has been misdirected.”