The High Court on Monday ordered the release of Minu Akter who has been in prison for three years serving a life term on behalf of real convict Kulsum Akter for money.
The high court passed the order to Chattogram fourth additional metropolitan session court to free Minu Akter, subject to its satisfaction.
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Minu impersonated as Kulsum who was sentenced to life in prison for killing a female garment worker in Chittagong in 2006.
The bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim passed the order during a virtual hearing.
The court also ordered to take necessary steps to arrest Kulsum.
Besides, the court ordered special public prosecutor of Chattogram Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 MA Naser and junior lawyer Nurul Anwar and Bibekananda Chowdhury and clerk Showrabh to submit written explanation about their role in the fraudulent act within two weeks.
The court has also ordered the four to appear before the court on June 28, the next date of hearing on this case.
Advocate Md Shishir Munir stood for Minu during the hearing while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Deputy Attorney General Dr Bashir Ullah presented the state side.
Advocate Iqbal Hossain presented the appeal submitted to the High Court against Kulsum’s life term.
How Minu ended up in Jail:
October 26 in 2007 Kulsum was arrested in a case filed over a garment worker’s murder in 2006.
Two years later she was freed after being granted bail by a Chattogram court.
On November 30, 2017 Chattogram fourth additional metropolitan session court found Kulsum guilty and sentenced her to life term and ordered to pay a fine of TK 50,000 after completing the trial. Failure to pay the fine the convict was to spend an additional one year in jail.
On June 12 in 2018 Minu, pretending to be Kulsum, surrendered to police and began spending time behind bars. According to case proceedings she did it for money.
In 2019 advocate Iqbal Hossain filed a petition on the sentence passed by lower court on behalf of Minu pretending to be Kulsum.
Following which the case document was sent to the High Court on June 12 the same year.
On March 18 this year, senior jail super of Chattogram central jail Md. Safiqul Islam Khan noticedthe issue of fraudulence and brought the matter to Chattogram court’s notice.
Following the court’s order Minu was brought before court on March 22.
In the court Minu said, “three years back a woman named Morzina promising to give some rice sent me to jail and said after Ramadan she will bring me out.”
“Now I want to be out of the jail,’ she said.
Later sub-document of the case was sent to the high court and advocate Shishir Munir presented it before court.
The accused of the case Kulsum was a housewife living in Rahmatganj under Kotwali police station with his husband.
Minu used to live in a slum in the city with her three children before ending up in jail as Kulsum.