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Uttar Dinajpur (West Bengal): Nearly three months after he was taken from his home in the dead of night, Jalil Akhtar (66), a resident of Bagrail village under Dalkhola police station of Uttar Dinajpur in West Bengal walked out of jail on bail on Tuesday (September 15), following court order. 

In the intervening night between June 19 and 20, Dalkhola police allegedly picked Akhtar from his bed, branding him a “ Bangladeshi”. The operation was carried out so discreetly that even his wife, Bibi Toufa, had no idea that the police had entered their home and taken her husband away.

Three months of fear, uncertainty and a fight for freedom

On September 15, Uttar Dinajpur Additional District Judicial Magistrate Jamsed Sheikh granted Akhtar bail, subject to certain conditions. The court directed him to fully cooperate with the investigation until the case is disposed of and barred him from leaving the area without permission.

Jalil Akhtar in Islampur Court after being released on bail on September 15. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.

Hours after the order, Akhtar walked out of the Islampur sub-correctional center. 

“If these two lawyers had not stood by me, I would never have been able to come out of jail. They fought my case entirely free of cost. Even the court papers were purchased and arranged by Sahid Reza at his own expense,” Akhtar told The Wire, his two lawyers, Sahid Reza and Abu Bakkr Khalid Saifulla stood next to him, as he walked out of the correctional center. 

He added that the Rs 10,000 that had to be deposited with the court as a condition of his bail was also paid by Reza. “I am a poor daily wage labourer. There was no way I could have afforded the expenses of fighting such a legal battle.”

“I was forcibly taken away from my home. The police took me to a BSF [Border Security Force] camp and handed me over to the BSF. The officers repeatedly pressured me to admit that I was a Bangladeshi,” Akhtar said, breaking down in tears.

“How could I say something that is not true? I am an Indian citizen. I have never been to Bangladesh in my life. I was born here and grew up here. I work here as a daily-wage labourer to run my family. How can I suddenly become a Bangladeshi?’’ he asked. 

Akhtar said that after the BSF officers understood the situation and his confession, they handed him back to the Dalkhola police. According to him, the BSF told the police that he was a citizen of India.

But his ordeal did not end there. 

Akhtar said that while he was kept at the police station, the holding center and later in jail, he was not allowed to meet his family. Over the course of those three months, he said, the prolonged separation and uncertainty left him physically and mentally unwell.

Now, Akhtar says he is haunted........

© The Wire